World
A powerful earthquake centred in Myanmar rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, killing more than 140 people in that country, according to state media, and toppling buildings across a wide area.
UN to mobilize aid, with dozens missing in Thailand, more than 730 injured in Myanmar
Thomson Reuters
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A powerful earthquake centred in Myanmar rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, killing more than 140 people in that country, according to state media, and toppling buildings across a wide area.
The quake also hit Thailand, where rescuers in the capital, Bangkok, were searching in the rubble of a tower block that had been under construction and collapsed. There were 117 people missing, according to the rescue operation.
There were nine deaths in the Thai capital — eight who died when the building under construction collapsed, while the ninth person died in a different location, said Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was of 7.7 magnitude and at a depth of 10 kilometres. It was followed by a powerful aftershock as well as several more moderate ones.
The United Nations is mobilizing to help those in need, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
The epicentre was about 17.2 kilometres from Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5 million people. The city is Myanmar’s ancient royal capital and at the centre of the country’s Buddhist heartland.
One witness in the city told Reuters: “We all ran out of the house as everything started shaking. I witnessed a five-storey building collapse in front of my eyes. Everyone in my town is out on the road and no one dares to go back inside buildings.”
Fears that people are trapped under rubble
State-run MRTV said on the Telegram messaging app that at least 144 people had been killed in Myanmar and 732 injured.
A rescue worker from the Moe Saydanar charity group told Reuters it had retrieved at least 60 bodies from monasteries and buildings in Pyinmanar, near Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, and more people were trapped.
“This 60 is only from my charity group and only at Pyinmanar town,” he said.
Myanmar’s military-run government has declared a state of emergency in multiple regions.
“The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.
The junta seized power in a 2021 coup that led to a civil war and has been isolated internationally. The junta is locked in a struggle to put down insurgents fighting its rule, a situation that could complicate the rescue and relief operation.
Six states and regions in Myanmar are most impacted — particularly in the northwest of the country, the Red Cross said.
“Public infrastructure has been damaged, including roads, bridges and public buildings,” Marie Manrique, Program Co-ordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross said to reporters in Geneva, via video link from Yangon.
“We currently have concerns for large-scale dams that people are watching to see the conditions of them,” she said.
Meanwhile, witnesses in Bangkok said one downtown office tower swayed from side to side for at least two minutes, with doors and windows creaking loudly.
Hundreds of employees filed out via emergency stairs as some shocked and panicked workers froze. Loud shrieks could be heard as the building continued to sway.
Outside, hundreds gathered in the afternoon sun, while staff with medical kits found office chairs for elderly and people in shock.
China’s Xinhua news agency said strong tremors were felt in southwestern Yunnan province which borders Myanmar, but there were no reports of casualties.
With files from The Associated Press