People look at the collapsed Maha Myat Muni Pagoda after an earthquake Friday in Mandalay, Myanmar. (EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The death toll in the powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar on Friday has jumped to more than 1,000, with an additional 2,376 injured, according to the country’s military junta. At least eight people were killed in neighboring Thailand, where tremors flattened a skyscraper in the capital Bangkok, burying dozens of workers underneath.
The scale of the devastation in Myanmar only began to come into focus Saturday morning as patchy communications returned to affected areas. In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-most-populous city, which was about 11 miles from the epicenter of the 7.7-magnitude quake, entire blocks of buildings have been flattened and hospitals have been overwhelmed, said residents.
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In the Mandalay region alone, at least 694 people have died and 1,670 have been injured, said military officials. These are preliminary figures and the toll is likely to keep rising, said international aid groups.
“We’re just at the beginning of understanding what the consequences are,” said Richard Horsey, a senior adviser to Myanmar for the International Crisis Group.
The airports in Mandalay and in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, suffered damage during the quake and have been closed.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.