Emergency Declared In Myanmar, Thailand After Powerful Earthquake

Bangkok: A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar midday on Friday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed, and prompting Myanmar to declare a widespread state of emergency.

The midday temblor with an epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.

Myanmar's military-run government declared a state of emergency in six regions and States including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, but with the country in the midst of a prolonged bloody civil war it was not clear how help would get to many regions.

The Red Cross said downed power lines are adding to challenges for their teams trying to reach Mandalay and Sagaing regions and southern Shan state. “Initial reports from the ground suggest the earthquake has caused significant damage,” the Red Cross said. “Information on humanitarian needs is still being gathered.”

Crane-topped building collapsed in a cloud of dust in Bangkok, a construction worker was killed when rubble from the collapsing building site hit his truck and another was crushed by the falling debris, rescue worker Songwut Wangpon told reporters.

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said in all three people were killed at the site and 90 are missing. He offered no more details about the ongoing rescue efforts but first responders said that seven people had been rescued so far from outside the collapsed building. Rescue workers say the rubble is still too unstable for them to try and find people possibly trapped beneath. A dramatic video of the building's collapse near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak market circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top toppling into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.

Elsewhere, people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more aftershocks. The US Geological Survey and Germany's GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to preliminary reports.

Screaming and panic as buildings swayed, the sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles filled the street, leaving some of the city's already congested streets gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway were shut down. City hall declared the city a disaster area to facilitate interagency aid and emergency help. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments. April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok's city center, at first didn't even realise it was an earthquake, the first she'd ever experienced. “I just thought I was dizzy,” she said. She and her colleagues ran downstairs from the tenth floor of their building, Tonson Tower, and waited outside for a signal that it was safe to go back in.

“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 shopping for camera equipment. “I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”

Like Morton, thousands of people poured into Benjasiri Park from nearby shopping malls, high rises and apartment buildings along Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road. Many were on phones trying to reach loved ones as others sought shade from the hot early afternoon sun. Others stared up fearfully at the tall buildings in the densely packed part of the city.