BANGKOK, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Northern Thailand's Lampang Province was on Saturday declared a disaster zone as 31 aftershocks were felt after it was hit a by a 4.9-magnitude quake on Wednesday.
Officials from disaster prevention and mitigation department said the government declared the province a disaster zone so that agencies could speed up efforts to help affected people.
An initial survey found 72 houses, four government offices and seven temples in the province damaged. The government has not yet evaluated the total damages as aftershocks continue.
Officials from the mineral resources department said the aftershocks, categorized as second to third degree tremors, would be very weak and they did not find any worrisome signs that the 90-km long Phayao fault line had been seriously affected by the recent quake.
Lampang was hit by a 4.9-magnitude quake on Wednesday. The epicenter was along the upper part of the Phayao fault line.