Rescue workers search for survivors at a skyscraper collapse in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck neighboring Myanmar. At least one person was confirmed killed when the 30-story building which was under construction came down but as many as 70 site workers are missing. Photo by Narong Sangnak/EPA-EFE
At least one person was killed after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday causing widespread damage across the region reaching into neighboring Thailand and southwestern China.
The BBC reported emergency workers searching for victims among destroyed buildings in the central city of Mandalay, close to the epicenter, believed the death toll would be in the hundreds at the least. Advertisement
The main tremor, which occurred at around 12:20 local time, struck close to the Irrawaddy River in Sagaing Region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, just west of Mandalay, a city of more than 1.7 million, followed 11 minutes later by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock 20 miles away to the south in Mandalay Region.
Two further 4.6 shocks were recorded minutes apart an hour later. All the quakes were along the Sagaing Fault, a major 750-mile north-south fault that runs virtually the entire length of Myanmar. Advertisement
The country’s military government declared an “emergency situation” covering large areas of central Myanmar including Mandalay and Naypyidaw, the city the junta re-designated as the capital to replace the British colonial-era capital, Yangon.
The state of emergency was also in place in the Sagaing, Bago and Magway regions and eastern Shan state, scene of fierce fighting between ethnic Shan rebels and the junta after it ignited a civil war in 2021 by overthrowing the country’s democratically elected National Unity Government in a military coup.
The BBC reported roads buckled in Naypyidaw, and footage circulating online showed chaotic scenes at Mandalay Airport while authorities in Bangkok declared the Thai capital a disaster zone after a 30-story building under construction collapsed killing at least one person and trapping scores of workers.
The office of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a post on X that airports, hospitals, and transport had been placed on standby and security forces mobilized with police officers evacuating people from unsafe buildings, aiding victims, and managing traffic.
“Citizens are urged to avoid high-rises,” the office said.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt ordered the immediate establishment of an earthquake response command center.
The quake also rocked China’s Yunan Province with the China Geological Survey, the country’s counterpart to the USGS in Beijing, saying the main shock registered at a higher magnitude of 7.9, according to its instruments. Advertisement
The quake in Myanmar comes at a time when the country is very poorly placed to deal with a disaster, mired as it already is mired in deep crisis due to ongoing civil war that has forced huge numbers of people to flee their homes and left more than three million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The agency said in an update issued Friday that the number of people in need would rise to just short of 20 million in 2025, out of a population of 57 million, due to worsening humanitarian conditions amid an escalation in the fighting, particularly in the northwest of the country, and increasing repression by the military government.
OCHA warned that with its 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to help 5.5 million people just 4.9% funded, humanitarian organizations were struggling to continue to deliver lifesaving assistance.
It said increased funding and sustained access were urgently needed to reach those most in need.
