'Sudden and Very Strong' : 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake hits central Myanmar

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'Sudden and very strong': 7.7-magnitude earthquake hits central Myanmar, people trapped in collapsed building, state of emergency in Thailand

AFP

28 Mar, 2025 09.35 PM

•  A 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar, causing widespread damage and tremors felt in Thailand.

•  At least 43 workers are trapped in a collapsed Bangkok skyscraper, prompting a state of emergency.

•  Local journalist says buildings in Bangkok are not engineered for earthquakes, leading to fears of significant damage.

At least 43 workers are trapped in a Bangkok skyscraper which has collapsed after the strong earthquake felt in Southeast Asia tonight.

And the nation's leader has called a state of emergency as first-hand accounts of the damage caused by the quake starts to emerge.

A strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says.

The tremor hit 16km northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10km around 12.50 pm local time (7.50pm NZT), USGS said.

Tremors were felt south into Thailand and sent residents in the capital Bangkok running into the streets as buildings shook.

Damage includes a building collapsing in Bangkok, with medical authorities saying up to 43 people were believed to be trapped.

CNN has reported a further seven people were injured in the collapse.

The Thai government called an urgent meeting in a bid to gauge the extent of damage in their country, and the required immediate response.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Friday she had interrupted an official visit to the southern island of Phuket to hold an "urgent meeting" after the quake, according to a post on X.

Later it was revealed a state of emergency has been declared.

India prime minister Narendra Modi has sent his best to the country's impacted.

"Concerned by the situation in the wake of the Earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand," he wrote in a message on X.

"Praying for the safety and wellbeing of everyone. India stands ready to offer all possible assistance. In this regard, asked our authorities to be on standby."

Bangkok-based BBC journalist Bui Thu told the BBC World Service that she was "very panicked" when the quake struck.

"I didn't know what it was because it has been, I think a decade since Bangkok had a really strong or powerful earthquake like this," she said.

"In my apartment I just see some cracking on the walls and water splashed out of swimming pools and people just yelling."

She said she feared the damage would be "big".

"Buildings in Bangkok are not engineered for earthquakes, so I think that's why I think there's going to be big damage."

Search and rescue operations of collapsed or damaged buildings in Thailand and Myanmar are now underway.

'Strongest tremor I've experienced in my life'

"I heard it and I was sleeping in the house, I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the

building," Duangjai, a resident of tourist city Chiang Mai, told AFP after tremors were felt across northern and central Thailand.

Sai, a 76-year-old Chiang Mai resident, was working at a minimart when the shop started the shake.

"I quickly rushed out of the shop along with other customers," he said. "This is the strongest tremor I've experienced in my life."

Video shared to social media showed a building under construction collapsing in a cloud of debris.

Another video showed water spilling from a rooftop pool.

Some metro and light rail services were suspended in Bangkok.

A CNN journalist in Bangkok reported frantic scenes in his apartment, with light fixtures swinging back and forth as residents rushed to evacuate the building.

Another resident in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai, who also did not want to be named, said "I felt it for about ten seconds in my room then I figured out I couldn't stay inside. So I rushed out on to the street."

'Very sudden and very strong'

AFP journalists in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, said roads were buckled by the force of the tremors and chunks of ceilings fell from buildings.

A resident in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, who did not want to be named, told CNN, "We felt the quake for about one minute and then we ran out of the building."

"We saw other people running out of the buildings too. It was very sudden and very strong."

Video from Myanmar also showed the collapse of the Ava Bridge between Ava and Sagaing.

Witnesses said parts of the historic Mandalay Palace in Mandalay were severely damaged in the quake, the Myanmar Now news website reported.

Three residents of Mandalay, one of Myanmar's largest cities, told Reuters they saw multiple buildings collapsing as scores ran out on to the streets when the quake hit.

Journalists based in Myanmar have reported roads in some areas crumbled amid the force of the earthquake.

Residents of China's southwest Yunnan province also felt the temblor.

The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said the jolt measured magnitude 7.9, according to the Xinhua news agency, with a social media post by CENC saying "tremors were felt in Yunnan".

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the USGS.

The impoverished Southeast Asian nation has a strained medical system, especially in its rural states.

Several aftershocks have also been recorded, including one registering 6.4.

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