Don’t Call It the ‘Sagaing Quake’! Warns Superstitious Myanmar Junta

Earthquakes are typically named after the location of the epicenter, so it seems appropriate to call the 7.7-magnitude temblor that devastated parts of Myanmar on March 28 the “Sagaing earthquake”, as that is the town to which the epicenter was nearest.

Many, including most media outlets, have been using this name, but the regime on Monday officially called for the earthquake to instead be referred to as the “Mandalay earthquake”, leaving many people wondering why.

Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said the March 28 quake should be called the Mandalay earthquake to “avoid ambiguity” with earlier major quakes in Sagaing Region. He also urged media outlets to adopt the name.