BANGKOK ā A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, destroying buildings, a bridge and a dam.
At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage. At least eight died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction collapsed.
The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.
The full extent of death, injury and destruction was not immediately clear ā particularly in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries. It is embroiled in a civil war and information is tightly controlled.
The head of Myanmar’s military government said in the televised speech on Friday evening that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured.
Photos from the capital of Naypyidaw showed multiple buildings used to house civil servants destroyed by the quake and rescue crews pulling victims from the rubble.
Myanmar’s government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas. Images of buckled and cracked roads in Mandalay and damaged highways, as well as the collapse of a bridge and dam, raised further concerns about how rescuers would even reach some areas in a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.
Near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak market, a 33-story building under construction, with a crane on top, crumpled into a cloud of dust, and onlookers could be seen screaming and running in a video posted on social media.
The sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles filled the streets, leaving some of the city’s already congested streets gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway shut down.
While the area where the quake struck is prone to earthquakes, they are usually not so big and it is rare for them to be felt in the Thai capital, which sits on a river delta and is at moderate risk for quakes.
April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok, initially didn’t even realize it was an earthquake, the first she’d ever experienced.
She and her colleagues ran downstairs from the 10th floor of their building and waited outside for a signal that it was safe to go back in.
Crane-topped building collapsed in a cloud of dust
In Bangkok, at least three people were killed in the building collapse and 90 were missing, according to Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. He offered no more details about the ongoing rescue efforts but first responders said that seven people had been rescued so far from the area.
At least two of the dead were construction workers who were killed by falling rubble or debris, rescue worker Songwut Wangpon told reporters.
Elsewhere, people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more aftershocks.
The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 6.2 miles, according to preliminary reports. Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage.
Bangkok’s city hall declared the city a disaster area to facilitate the response. The greater metropolitan area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
“All of a sudden the whole building began to move. Immediately, there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok’s many malls.
Like Morton, thousands of people poured into Benjasiri Park from nearby shopping malls, high rises and apartment buildings along Bangkok’s busy Sukhumvit Road.
Voranoot Thirawat, a lawyer working in central Bangkok, said her first indication that something was wrong came when she saw a light swinging back and forth. Then she heard the building creaking as it moved back and forth.
There was people crying in the streets and, you know, the panic was horrendous really.
ā Paul Vincent
She and her colleagues ran down 12 flights of stairs. “In my lifetime, there was no earthquake like this in Bangkok,” she said.
Paul Vincent, a tourist visiting from England, was at a streetside bar when the quake struck.
As he came onto the street himself, he said he saw a high-rise building swaying and water falling from a rooftop pool.
“There was people crying in the streets and, you know, the panic was horrendous really,” he said.
Bridge and monastery collapse and dam bursts in Myanmar
In Mandalay, the earthquake reportedly brought down multiple buildings, including the Ma Soe Yane monastery, one of the largest in the city, and damaged the former royal palace. Meanwhile, Christian Aid said its partners and colleagues on the ground reported that a dam burst in the city, causing water levels to rise in the lowland areas in the area.
A video posted online showed robed monks in the street shooting video of the multistory monastery before it suddenly fell to the ground. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was harmed.
In the Sagaing region just southwest of the city, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.
The Red Cross said downed power lines added to challenges for their teams trying to reach several hard-hit areas.
“Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in the world. Even before this heartbreaking earthquake, we know conflict and displacement has left countless people in real need,” said Julie Mehigan, head of Asia, Middle East & Europe for Christian Aid.
Myanmar’s government declared a state of emergency in six regions and states including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay. It was not clear what the declaration meant since the entire country has been under a state of emergency since 2021.
To the northeast, the earthquake was felt in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China and caused damage to houses and injuries in the city of Ruili on the border with Myanmar, according to Chinese media reports.