Chiang Rai Governor Somchai Hatayatanti confirmed the woman's death, saying that a series of aftershocks were also felt in areas near the Thai-Myanmar border.
The governor acknowledged that efforts were made to evacuate people from tall buildings and he had ordered all patients from Mae Sai Hospital to be transferred to other hospitals in Chiang Rai's inner areas.
The quake, measuring 6.8 magnitude, struck some 90 kilometres north of Chiang Rai and 235 kilometres north-east of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city, after Bangkok, and a most popular tourist destination.
The strong quake was reportedly felt in all Thailand's upper northern provinces, namely Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Nan and Phrae, and some of those in the Northeast, with several ancient sites in the country's affected areas reportedly damaged. Even several tall buildings in Bangkok shuddered during the night's tremor.
