BANGKOK: A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring 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 10 died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction collapsed.
The full extent of death, injury and destruction was not immediately clear — particularly in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries. It is embroiled in a civil war, and information is tightly controlled.
“The death toll and injuries are liekly to rise,” said the head of Myanmar’s military govt, Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, as he announced at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were hurt in the country.
In Thailand, Bangkok city authorities said 10 people were killed, 16 injured and 101 missing from three construction sites, including the high-rise.
The 7.7 magnitude quake struck at midday, with an epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. Aftershocks followed, one of them measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude. Photos from Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, showed rescue crews pulling victims from the rubble of multiple buildings used to house civil servants. Myanmar’s govt said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas. In a country where govts have been slow to accept foreign aid, Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar was ready to accept assistance. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the world body is mobilising to respond to Myanmar’s appeal for help. But as images circulated of buckled and cracked roads, a collapsed bridge and a burst dam, there were concerns about how rescuers would even reach some areas in a country already enduring a humanitarian crisis.
In Mandalay, the quake brought down multiple buildings, including the Ma Soe Yane monastery, one of the largest in the city, and damaged the former royal palace.
In the Sagaing region, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway linking Mandalay and Yangon, were damaged.
