Myanmar, March 28 — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, killing at least 144 people and injuring 732 others, according to state-run MRTV. The quake, with a depth of 10 km, had its epicenter 17.2 km from Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, home to 1.2 million people.
Myanmar’s shadow foreign minister called for “urgent international help”, warning that the situation was “very tense”, reported Reuters. The tremor triggered an aftershock of magnitude 6.4, worsening the devastation.
In Myanmar, several buildings collapsed, including the Ma Soe Yane monastery, one of the country’s largest. The quake also damaged the former royal palace and government housing in Naypyitaw, where a major hospital was turned into a “mass casualty area”. Infrastructure damage included cracked roads, a collapsed bridge, and a burst dam, causing flooding in low-lying areas, according to AP.
In Thailand, at least three people died in Bangkok when a 33-story building under construction crumbled into a cloud of dust. Rescuers pulled seven survivors from the rubble, but many remain trapped. The quake also halted the city’s subway and elevated transit systems.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Germany’s GFZ Center for Geosciences confirmed that the epicenter was in Myanmar, but the quake also shook Bangkok.
Witnesses described chaos as skyscrapers swayed violently, forcing people onto the streets. “All of a sudden, the whole building began to move. People were screaming and running everywhere,” recalled a Scottish tourist.
Minutes after the Myanmar quake, the National Center for Seismology in India reported a 4.0 magnitude tremor in Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills, with mild shocks felt in Kolkata and Imphal.
