Over 150 dead in Myanmar and Thailand after huge earthquake
- Published
A huge 7.7 magnitude earthquake has hit central Myanmar, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
At least 144 people have died and 732 have been injured so far in the country, Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing said.
The epicentre was 16km (10 miles) north-west of the city of Sagaing, sending strong tremors that were felt as far as south-west China and Thailand.
Meanwhile, around 100 construction workers are missing after an unfinished high-rise building collapsed hundreds of miles away in Bangkok, according to Thailand's deputy prime minister.
At least seven people have died at the site in Thailand, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
A rescuer in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, told the BBC the damage is "enormous".
The total number of people killed and injured by the earthquake are expected to rise in the coming days.
There have been reports of roads buckling in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, and the country's military government has declared a state of emergency in six regions.
The earthquake struck near Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5 million people.
A second quake struck 12 minutes after the first, according to the USGS, with a magnitude of 6.4 and its epicentre was 18km (11.1 miles) south of Sagaing.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948, but its recent history has been marked by unrest and conflict.
The military seized power in 2021, ten years after agreeing to hand over control to a civilian government. Since then, the junta has cracked down hard on dissent, executing democracy activists and jailing journalists.
The state controls almost all local radio, television, print and online media, and Internet use is restricted in the country, which often makes access to information difficult.
According to a recent BBC data project, the country is now controlled by a patchwork of groups, making relief and recovery efforts more challenging.
It is even harder to find accurate information about what is going on in rebel-held areas of the country.
The junta made a rare call for international assistance in the wake of the earthquake.
However, the complex situation on the ground is likely to hamper search and rescue operations as well as the free flow of aid into the country.
Rescue workers operating in villages near Mandalay have told the BBC they do not have access to the heavy machinery needed to reach people trapped under the rubble. "We're digging people out with our bare hands," one man said.
The earthquake has added pressure to an already dire humanitarian situation in the country, where 3.5m people are estimated to have been displaced by fighting.
The Sagaing region, near the epicentre of the quake, is a volatile key battleground in the civil war.
Charities and opposition parties working in the country have raised concerns about the "politicisation" of aid in the coming days.
Montse Ferrer, the deputy director of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International, told the BBC the junta has "a history of denying aid" to areas where resistance forces are active.
The tremors were felt hundreds of miles away in Thailand's capital of Bangkok, where rescue teams worked through the night to free the construction workers trapped beneath the rubble.
Buildings across the city were evacuated, including a hospital holding patients in acute need of medical attention. A woman gave birth on the street amid the commotion, lying on a stretcher surrounded by hospital staff.
Bui Thu, a BBC journalist who lives in Bangkok, told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme that she was at home cooking when the initial quake happened.
"I was very nervous, I was very panicked," she said.
"Buildings in Bangkok are not engineered for earthquakes, so I think that's why I think there's going to be big damage."
Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra visited the site of the collapsed building on Friday afternoon.
Search and rescue teams using drones, sniffer dogs and diggers have been mobilised and disaster centres set up to help with the rescue operation.
Additional reporting by BBC Burmese
Get in touch
Are you in the affected region? If it is safe to do so, get in touch.
Related topics
- Published3 days ago
