Earthquake hits Myanmar, jolts Thailand, At least 20 died
Bangkok: A powerful earthquake rattled Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, killing at least 20 and trapping dozens of workers in a collapsed under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok where a state of emergency was declared.
The 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing at a shallow depth, the United States Geological Survey said. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later.
In the Thai capital, a 30-storey building under construction collapsed, trapping 81 workers, police and medics said. The massive building intended for government offices was reduced to a tangle of rubble and twisted metal in seconds, footage shared on social media showed.
Magnitude 7.7 and 6.4 earthquakes have struck Myanmar, killing at least three in Thailand’s capital Bangkok and trapping dozens others after an under construction building collapsed.
The Embassy of India, Bangkok, issues an emergency number, (+66 618819218), for Indian nationals in Thailand, which they can use in case of any emergency. “After powerful earthquake tremors recorded in Bangkok and in other parts of Thailand, the Embassy is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Thai authorities. So far, no untoward incident involving any Indian citizen has been reported…All members of the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and Consulate in Chiang Mai are safe.”
The first tremor hit 16km (10 miles) northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10km (6 miles) at about 12:50pm (06:20 GMT) on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Myanmar’s ruling military declared a state of emergency in six regions and states. “The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.
A major hospital in Naypyidaw was declared a “mass casualty area”, an official at the facility told AFP news agency. Rows of wounded were treated outside the emergency department of the 1,000-bed general hospital, some writhing in pain, others lying still as relatives sought to comfort them.
According to two witnesses from the town of Taungnoo in Bago region who spoke to Reuters news agency, at least three people died after a mosque partially collapsed. “We were saying prayers when the shaking started … Three died on the spot,” one of them said.
Social media posts from Mandalay, Myanmar’s ancient royal capital that is at the centre of its Buddhist heartland, showed collapsed buildings and debris strewn across streets of the city.
A witness in the city Htet Naing Oo told Reuters that a tea shop had collapsed with several people trapped inside. “We couldn’t go in,” she said. “The situation is very bad.”
Marie Manrique, programme coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross said to reporters in Geneva, via video link from Yangon that the organisation anticipates the impact to be “quite large”.
“Public infrastructure has been damaged including roads, bridges and public buildings. We currently have concerns for large scale dams that people are watching to see the conditions of them”, she said.