A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, the USA Geological Survey mentioned, damaging buildings there and shaking cities throughout an unlimited expanse of Southeast Asia, so far as Bangkok, in neighboring Thailand.
The quake struck close to Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest metropolis of greater than 1,000,000 folks, round 12:50 p.m. native time the company mentioned. An aftershock of magnitude 6.4 was recorded 12 minutes later at a close-by location.
A magnitude of seven.7 is taken into account to be sturdy. At a depth of about six miles, the quake was comparatively shallow, which made it more likely to trigger violent shaking.
After the tremor in Mandalay, folks had been rushed to the primary hospital. Photographs taken in that metropolis that had been posted on social media confirmed a bridge that had crashed right into a river. Others confirmed broken buildings.
Particulars concerning the extent of the injury and casualties in Myanmar weren’t instantly out there. The nation has been ravaged by a civil war that started after the army seized energy in a coup 4 years in the past.
Video from Bangkok confirmed folks in panic within the streets and inside buildings like buying facilities.
In central Bangkok, the streets had been full of people that had been afraid of aftershocks or weren’t allowed again into their buildings. Visitors was at a digital standstill.
Movies uploaded to social media and verified by The New York Occasions confirmed the collapse of a 30-story skyscraper that was underneath development within the Chatuchak district of Bangkok. The movies confirmed development staff and passers-by operating for security, whereas different movies filmed from an elevated freeway confirmed massive clouds of mud and particles engulfing the encompassing space. Thai media reports described the constructing as the brand new Workplace of the Auditor Normal.
The shaking was additionally felt west of Myanmar in Bangladesh, together with in its capital, Dhaka, however there have been no instant stories of harm. The earthquake additionally shook buildings in Vietnam, together with Hanoi, the capital, and Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, the state-run information outlet VnExpress reported.
Saif Hasnat contributed reporting from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Richard C. Paddock in Bangkok.
