War-torn Myanmar has been struck by its biggest earthquake in 100 years, which also rocked Thailand and caused the collapse of an unfinished skyscraper in Bangkok.
Myanmar’s military leader made a rare plea for international help after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook the country’s centre and flattened buildings on Friday afternoon (AEDT).
It’s feared 144 people are dead in Myanmar — which has been isolated from the world for four years in its civil war — and more than 730 injured.
In Thailand, around 80 people are feared buried in the rubble of an apartment tower which had been under construction when it crumbled to the ground.
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Myanmar’s ruling military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing pleaded for a major relief effort in a televised address to the country.
“I would like to invite any country, any organisation, or anyone in Myanmar to come and help. Thank you.”
US President Donald Trump said his administration was “going to be helping” while India, France and the European Union have also offered help.
The quake struck at lunchtime (local time), about 17 kilometres from Mandalay, Myanmar’s ancient royal capital and the country’s Buddhist heartland, which has a population of about 1.5 million.
It was followed by a powerful aftershock and several more moderate ones.
Buildings collapsed in five cities and towns, as well as a railway bridge and a road bridge on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, Myanmar state media said.
In the Thai capital, people ran out onto the streets in panic, many of them hotel guests in bathrobes and swimming costumes, as water cascaded down from an elevated pool at a luxury hotel, witnesses said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand suspended all trading activities for the Friday afternoon session.
One office tower in downtown Bangkok swayed from side to side for at least two minutes, with doors and windows creaking loudly, witnesses said.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt also warned of possible aftershocks, but urged people to be calm and said the situation was largely under control.
The quake will further stretch Myanmar’s ruling military, which is fighting against an armed uprising.
The junta 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 Telegram.
The Red Cross said roads, bridges and buildings had been damaged in Myanmar, and there were concerns for the state of large dams.
A Mandalay resident said destruction stretched across the whole city, and one neighbourhood, Sein Pan, was on fire.
Roads were damaged, phone lines disrupted and there was no electricity, said the resident, who declined to be named.
Local media outlet Myanmar Now posted images showing a clock tower had collapsed, and part of the wall by Mandalay Palace was in ruins.
Witnesses reported people trapped inside a Mandalay a tea shop and at least three people are said to have died after a mosque in Taungoo partially collapsed.
Local media reported a hotel in Aung Ban, in Shan state, crumbled into rubble, with the Democratic Voice of Burma reporting two people dead and 20 trapped.
Army-run MRTV reported that the quake toppled buildings, crushed cars and left huge fissures on roads across the capital Naypyitaw.
Amnesty International said the earthquake could not have come at a worse time for Myanmar, given the number of displaced people, the existing need for relief aid, and cuts by the Trump administration to US aid.
Since overthrowing the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has struggled to run the country, leaving the economy and basic services like healthcare in tatters.
The country has also been hit by natural disasters in recent years, including Typhoon Yagi last year and Cyclone Mocha in 2023, and the internationally isolated junta has struggled to respond adequately.
Topics: Earthquake,Myanmar,Natural disasters,Thailand
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