Rescuers today struggled to reach remote Myanmar towns hit by a powerful earthquake which killed 75 people. Rare images from the area showed roads torn apart and wooden homes reduced to piles of timber. The 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the east of the country near the borders with Thailand and Laos and was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. The towns of Tarlay, Tachileik and nearby villages in Myanmar's Shan state appear to have been most severely affected by the quake, which flattened hundreds of houses and toppled monasteries and government buildings.