A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Thailand and neighboring Myanmar on Friday at noon, causing the death of at least three people in Bangkok and burying an undetermined number after the collapse of a building under construction. The Burmese government declared a state of widespread emergency.
At noon tremor, with epicenter near Mandalay - the second largest city in Myanmar - was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.
Myanmar’s military government declared a state of emergency in six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyidaw, and Mandalay. However, at a time when the country is embroiled in a prolonged and bloody civil war, it was unclear how aid would reach many regions.
The Red Cross reported that the falling of power lines is further hindering the arrival of their teams to the regions of Mandalay and Sagaing, as well as to the southern state of Shan.
“The initial reports from the field suggest that the earthquake has caused significant damage,” stated the Red Cross. “Information is still being gathered on humanitarian needs.”
Building with a crane on top collapsed amid a cloud of dust
In Bangkok, a construction worker died when debris from the collapsing building hit his truck, and another was crushed by falling debris, as reported to the press by rescuer Songwut Wangpon.
The Minister of Defense, Phumtham Wechayachai, stated that three people died at the scene and 90 are missing. He did not offer further details on the rescue efforts, but emergency services reported that so far seven people have been rescued from outside the collapsed building.
The rescuers say that the debris is too unstable for them to start searching.
A shocking video that circulated on social media shows the collapse of a building near the popular Chatuchak market in Bangkok. The multi-story building, with a crane on top, collapses in the midst of a cloud of dust as people around scream and run.
In other areas, residents of Bangkok who were evacuated from their buildings were advised to stay outside in case another earthquake occurred.
The United States Geological Survey and the GFZ geoscience center in Germany reported that the earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to preliminary reports.
The sound of sirens echoed throughout downtown Bangkok and vehicles filled the streets, causing traffic jams on some of the already congested roads in the city. The high-speed elevated transportation system and the metro were closed.
The city council declared the city a disaster zone to facilitate inter-agency and emergency assistance. The Bangkok metropolitan area is home to over 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in downtown Bangkok, initially didn’t even realize it was an earthquake, the first one she had ever experienced. “I just thought I was dizzy,” she noted.
She and her colleagues ran down from the tenth floor of their building, the Tonson Tower, and waited outside for the signal that it was safe to re-enter.
“Suddenly, the whole building started to shake. Immediately there were screams and a lot of panic,” narrated Fraser Morton, a Scottish tourist who was in one of the many shopping malls in Bangkok buying photographic equipment.
“At first I started walking calmly, but then the building really started to move. Yes, lots of screams, lots of panic, people running in the opposite direction on the escalators, lots of banging and loud noises inside the shopping center,” he recalled.
Just like Morton, thousands of people flocked to Benjasiri Park from nearby shopping centers, skyscrapers, and apartment buildings along the bustling Sukhumvit Avenue in Bangkok.
Many were talking on the phone trying to contact their loved ones, while others sought shelter from the hot afternoon sun. Some looked fearfully at the tall buildings in the most populated area of the city.
“I went out and looked up at the building, and everything was moving, full of dust and debris; it was quite intense,” Morton stated. “There was a lot of chaos.”
Voranoot Thirawat, a lawyer working in downtown Bangkok, mentioned that the first sign she had that something was wrong was when she saw a swinging lamp. Then she heard the building creaking as it moved due to the shockwaves.
She and her colleagues ran down 12 flights of stairs. “In my life, I had never seen an earthquake like this in Bangkok,” she stated.
Paul Vincent, an English tourist, was at an outdoor bar when the earthquake happened.
“Next, everyone went out into the street, so there were many screams and panic, which obviously worsened the situation,” he observed.
When he went out on the street, he said he saw a building swaying and water falling from a rooftop pool.
“When I saw the building, oh my God!, that was when... it hit me,” she said. “There were people crying in the streets, and the panic was really horrendous.”
A bridge collapses in Myanmar and injuries are reported in China
In Mandalay, Myanmar, near the epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the ancient royal palace and other buildings, according to videos and photos posted on the social network Facebook.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated and most houses are low-rise structures.
In the Sagaing region, southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the road connecting Mandalay to Yangon—the largest city in Myanmar—were also damaged.
Residents of Yangon ran out of their homes after the earthquake. At the moment, there were no reports of injuries or fatalities.
In the capital, Naypyidaw, the earthquake damaged religious shrines, causing some parts to collapse, as well as some houses.
In the northeast, the earthquake was felt in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, and caused damage to homes and injuries in the city of Ruili, on the border with Myanmar, according to reports from Chinese media.
Videos that a media outlet claimed to have received from a person in Ruili showed debris from buildings scattered on a street and a person being transported on a stretcher towards an ambulance.
The tremor in Mangshi, a Chinese city about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Ruili, was so strong that people couldn’t stand up, according to a resident interviewed by The Paper, a digital media outlet.
A resident of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, told The Paper that the ceiling lamp was swinging violently and that the tremor lasted for more than 10 seconds.
The Disaster Prevention Department of Thailand reported that the earthquake was felt in almost all regions of the country.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called for an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the earthquake.