People are being told to evacuate high-rise buildings and governor orders hospitals to evacuate patients immediately if cracks are found after huge earthquake in Myanmar
People are running for their lives in chaotic scenes are unfolding in Thailand after a powerful 8.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the country, with reports suggesting as many as 100,000 may have been killed.
The tremors, believed to have originated in Myanmar but severely impacting Bangkok, left people struggling to stand and buildings shaking violently, with water spilling over the top of luxury apartments in the city centre. The quake initially measured at 7.7 but has now been upgraded to 8.2.
Bangkok police say a high-rise building under construction was captured collapsing as workers fled to safety. Three people have been declared dead from this incident. A mum’s three-year-old baby was killed when having dinner in their home in Mandalay, with 20 killed in total in Mandalay so far.
A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.
Police say they were responding to the scene near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the earthquake, while the mayor has declared a state of emergency.
Another eight people have been killed and others are feared trapped after a construction building in Pyi Gyi Tagon township of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, collapsed at about 1pm, an eyewitness told the Guardian.
Reports of a rescue worker in Mandalay suggest the damage there is “enormous”, with the number of casualties “at least in the hundreds”. The Red Cross also says there has been “significant damage”.
The Myanmar military says 144 have been killed so far and more than 730 injured due to earthquake.
Live updates to follow….
What we know so far
As our live blog coverage comes to an end, here’s a recap at the main news lines coming from the region:
- A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, destroying buildings, a bridge and a dam.
- At least 144 people have died in Myanmar, with 732 others injured. Officials from the country’s ruling military junta fear the toll will rise and have asked for international help
- A three-year-old girl is among those killed by the devastating disaster in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city
- At least seven people have died in Bangkok at the site of an unfinished high-rise building, which collapsed due to the tremors. Around 80 people were earlier feared trapped under the rubble
- Rescue operations in both countries continue
The full extent of destruction and the death toll may take some time to become clear, particularly in Myanmar as it is embroiled in a civil war and information is tightly controlled.
That concludes our live coverage for today. Visit our homepage throughout the evening for further updates.
Brit in Bangkok tells of horror
British ex-pat Alex MacGregor has told how he has been evacuated from his home in Bangkok after an earthquake rocked the Thai capital.
Alex was waiting for his lunch delivery when the tremors began at around 1.30 local time when he noticed water in the pool getting ‘violent’.
He told the PA news agency: “All of a sudden I started feeling faint, like that kind of blood rushing to the head feeling, and I was like: ‘Am I ill here, or what’s going on?’ Then I looked up the other condo, which is a really high skyscraper and I saw their pool water coming over the sides and that’s when I knew it was an earthquake.
“It’s a weird sensation, you’re seeing a lot of things happen in slow motion around you… I actually went and sat down because I was feeling unsteady on my feet.”
We told earlier how cascading water from an infinity pool turned a Bangkok skyscraper into a waterfall.
Alex added: “Shortly after I left my condo area to come to a coffee shop… all the shops here in this eastern part of Bangkok were closed, so people were lining the streets. We knew there was going to be an aftershock, so I’ve made my way to an outdoor space and there’s a lot of people just sitting out here working on their laptops generally being chill.”
Alex lives in the “fairly residential” On Nut in eastern Bangkok and said the worst of the earthquake appeared to have impacted other areas of the city.
On the opposite side of the city, 90 people remain missing and three are confirmed dead after the collapse of a high-rise building under construction near the popular Chatuchak Market.
144 dead and 732 injured in Myanmar
It has been confirmed that 144 people have died and 732 injured in Myanmar following the devastating earthquake that struck the centre of the country on Friday.
Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned the figures are expected to rise as overhwelmed hospitals in the war-torn country continue to treat patients.
He says 96 have people have died in the capital Naypyidaw, while 18 have died in Saigaing and 30 in Mandalay.
As for the injured, 132 of these were in Naypyidaw and 300 were in Sagaing, the BBC Burmese team reports.
Numbers are still being assessed in other areas, the military leader said.
We reported earlier that a three-year-old girl was among the dead after her home collapsed as her mother prepared lunch in Mandalay.
Three people have died in neighbouring Thailand following the collapse of an unfinished high-rise building.
Rescue efforts at the site continue as it is feared more than 80 construction workers remain trapped under the rubble.
The ground literally opened up
Incredible footage from Myanmar shows gaping cracks in the ground caused by the earthquake.
Historic buildings damaged in Myanmar
A 1,000 year old temple has collapsed in Myanmar after the devastating earthquake, social media footage shows.
A clip posted to X shows the moment a Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda topples as witnesses scream in distress.
The ancient temple, said to be over 1,000 years old, is located south-east of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, close to where the epicentre of the quake has been identified.
The historic Mandalay Palace has also been severely damaged by the earthquake. The complex was built in the 1850s by Myanmar’s royal family and was refurbished in the 1990s.
Photos show heavy structural damage to the exterior walls, with some crumbling outwards towards the palace’s moat, while at least one interior building has also collapsed.
And the New Masoeyein monastery in Mandalay was also severely damaged, with pictures showing an ornate clock tower has been toppled by the powerful quake.
Earthquake upgraded
The official measurement of the earthquake has been upgrade from 7.7 to 8.2, as more than 100,000 people are feared to have died so far.
Local news outlet Bangkok Post, however, claims only 13 confirmed casualities in Myanmar and just two in Thailand.
What is a shallow earthquake and why has it caused so much damage?
The huge 7.7 magnitude earthquale struck in central Myanmar, but was felt elsewhere, including in Thailand and south-west China.
It may be a while before official casualty figures become known, but it is feared hundreds are dead and some esitmates warn the death toll may rise to as high as 100,000 due to the nature of the quake.
The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake was shallow, at a depth of just 10km (six miles).
These types of quakes tend to be more damaging because seismic waves from deeper ones have to travel farther to the surface and lose energy along the way.
Shaking is more intense from shallow earthquakes, which hit close to the surface, and the impact has been described as setting off “a bomb directly under a city” by experts.
Seismologist Dr Brian Baptie said earthquakes can occur at different depths throughout the Earth’s crust, but they are generally quite shallow in the ‘Burmese Arc’ region – which takes in highly populated regions of Northeast India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
He told the BBC: “We think this earthquake occured on a kind of major fault system that marks the plate boundary between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plates and earthquakes there are typically at depths of less than 20km.”
Hundreds feared dead in Myanmar
Gathering information from Myanmar is proving difficult as the country is run by a military regime, meaning we don’t yet know the death toll or the full extent of the damage after it was rocked by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday.
So far, we know at least 20 people have died at a major hospital in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw.
But the BBC says its Burmese service has spoken to a rescue worker in the country’s second largest city, Mandalay, who says the number of casualties is “at least in the hundreds”.
The rescue worker the scale of devastation there is “enormous”, while the Red Cross also says there has been “significant damage”.
A state of emergency has been declared in six regions in the country and the ruling military junta has made a rare appeal for international help, but just how far the damage has spread remains unclear.
In neihbouring Thailand, three construction workers have been killed and dozens injured in capital city Bangkok after an unfinished high-rise building collapsed. Around 81 workers remain trapped under rubble.
Thailand National Institute for Emergency Medicine said in an update that 68 others are injured and have been taken to hospital, five of whom are said to be in critical condition.
Thai leader attends collapsed construction site
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra now arrived at the scene of a collapsed building in the country’s capital, where three people died and 81 workers remain trapped under the rubble.
Earlier, she spoke to reporters and called for calm after an emergency meeting following the earthquake, which hit Myanmar but was felt in neighbouring countries, including Thailand.
Heavy machinery is also now reported to be arriving at the site of the incident, so rescue workers can begin searching for those trapped under the rubble.
Government officials said 20 people were trapped in an elevator shaft after the tremor. It was unclear if they were alive.
Myanmar ‘already in a bad way’
The earthquake ‘could not have come at a worse time’ for Mynmar, humanitarian causes say.
As well as the 3.5million displaced due to a bloody civil war, large parts of the country have also been ravaged by airstrikes.
Joe Freeman, a Myanmar researcher at Amnesty International, said: “Central Myanmar, which is believed to be the epicentre of the earthquake, has been ravaged by military air strikes and clashes between resistance groups and the military.
“Myanmar’s military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active. It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organizations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.
“Human rights must be at the centre of all relief efforts, and there must be no discrimination in aid provision.”
Difficulty in getting aid to Myanmar
Even before Friday’s devastating earthquake hit, the humanitarian situation in Myanmar was said to be “dire”.
The Sagaing region, near the epicentre of the quake, is a volatile key battleground in an ongoing civil war and is a stronghold of resistence groups fighting to overthrow the military government that seized power in a coup in 2021.
More than 3.5 million people have been left displaced by the bloodshed and the UN was warning that 20 million people in the country need aid this year, a third of the population.
Since seizing power, the Myanmar Miliary has also isolated the country from the outside world. Independent media is effectively banned, international aid groups activities restricted and tcuts in American foreign aid have also severely impacted the country.
Earlier on Friday, the ruling junta made a rare request for international humanitarian aid and declared a state of emergency across six regions.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said the EU is ‘ready’ to offer support to the nation.
Marie Manrique, from the Red Cross, said: “Public infrastructure has been damaged including roads, bridges and public buildings. We currently have concerns for large scale dams that people are watching to see the conditions of them.”
Number of missing rises to 81
Rescuers are desperately trying to free 81 people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper in the Thai capital Bangkok.
The number of missing workers was earlier given as 70, but it has risen in an update issued by the Thai government.
Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechachai told reporters three people have been confirmed dead after the building, which was under construction, dramatically collapsed on Friday.
The Thai government says it’s coordinating an emergency response at the scene and that it has ordered the mobilisation of search and rescue teams, and disaster centres have been ordered to prepare relief equipment and machinery.
According to Thailand’s Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, there were 409 people working on the site when it collapsed.
At least 20 confirmed dead in Mandalay, more feared dead in Naypyidaw
A doctor has told the BBC that at least 20 people are believed to have died in Mandalay, the second largest city in Myanmar, near the epicentre of the quake.
And officials in Naypyidaw say a hospital in the city has been turned into a “mass casualty area”, the AFP news agency reports.
A stream of casualties were rushed to the 1,000-bed hospital after the earthquake. Some were transported in cars, some arrived by foot and others were carried on stretchers, their bodies bloody and covered in dust.
Pictures from the hospital show rows of the wounded laying outside the emergency department, some writhing in pain and others in shock.
Death toll could reach 100,000, it is feared
The US Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity, fears the death toll could be as high as 100,000 after the earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.
It issued a red alert on its website, saying that Bangladesh, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and China were affected.
A red alert estimates casualties are likely to be somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000. It said: “Red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread. Past red alerts have required a national or international response.”
The 7.7 earthquake struck near Mandalay in Myanmar at around 6.30 UK time before a series of aftershocks did more damage.
Experts believe it has caused so much damage because it was a ‘shallow earthquake’, hitting just 6.2 miles below the surface, maning the seismic waves have less distance to travel, resulting in more intense shaking.
Baby girl killed in earthquake
A three-year-old baby girl has been confirmed as the youngest casualty so far after a devastating earthquake struck in Myanmar,
Daw Kyi Shwin, 45, said her daughter was killed in Mandalay, near the epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. They were both having lunch in their house when the earthquake struck, the New York Times reports.
She said: “As soon as it started, I ran downstairs, but I didn’t make it in time. I tried to run to her, but before I could, bricks fell on me too.”
Ms. Kyi Shwin was still bleeding heavily as she spoke outside a carpark in front of the Mandalay General Hospital.
She pleaded: “There’s no government to help us, not enough doctors to care for us. I’m going to die. I don’t want to die. Please help.”
Two bridges have collapsed in the country, which is under miltary rule and largely cut off from the rest of South East Asia.
Humanitarian organisation the Red Cross says its teams are trying to respond to “significant damage” in Myanmar, but are facing challenges due to a lack of power in the affected areas.
It says electricity and network lines are down in the Mandalay and Sagaing areas.
Devastating pictures from Myanmar as death toll rises
Photos have emerged from Myanmar showing the devastation in the country, which is under military rule and currently locked in an ongoing civil war.
Images show an earthquake survivors being treated a hospital and buckled roads in Naypyidaw, the capital city.
What do we know so far?
A quick recap of what we know:
- A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday
- The quake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city of more than a million people, around 12.50pm local times
- An aftershock of magnitude 6.4 was recorded 12 minutes later at a nearby location
- Building have been damaged in Myanmar and as far away as Bangkok, in neighboring Thailand
- Three people are confirmed dead in Bangkok after a skycracper under construction collapsed
- State of emergency declared in Bangkok and six states in Myanmar, where three people died after a Mosque collapsed
- Myanmar’s ruling junta made a rare request for international humanitarian aid after Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived at a hospital in Naypyidaw where wounded were being treated
Three dead after skyscraper collapse in Bangkok
Footage widely shared on Thai social media captures the moment a tower block under construction collapsed in the capital Bangkok after a major earthquake hit the region.
Construction workers can be seen running for their lives as the building begins to crumble. In a matter of seconds, the 30-storey tower block in the Chatuchak neighbourhood is left in rubble.
Thai emergency responders said at least three people have been found dead and an unknown number of others are still under the rubble of the building.
Bangkok is 1,000km from the epicentre of the earthquake, in Myanmar.
Historic bridge collapse in Myanmar
While information is difficult to access from Myanmar, social media footage emerging from central regions gives an indication of the scale of the impact.
The historic Ava Bridge, also known as the Old Sagaing Bridge, has collapsed, footage appears to show. It was built by the British during colonial times in 1934 before being destroyed by the retreating British Army during World War II. It was rebuilt in 1954 after Burmese independence and crosses the Irrawaddy River between Mandalay and Sagaing regions.
Meanwhile, footage reportedly taken from Mandalay airport shows people screaming and crouched on the ground of the tarmac, with a jetliner in the background.
The video, published by local media, show panicked people crouching on the floor outside the airport for safety.
Earthquake turns Bangkok skyscraper rooftop pool into waterfall as building sways
Thousands are feared dead after a strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked the Thai capital of Bangkok on Friday, causing buildings to sway and cascade water from rooftop pools onto the streets below.
Video shared on social media shows water falling from the roof of a high-rise building.
The earthquake is believed to be relatively shallow, at 10km (6.2 miles) deep, with a reported epicentre in neighbouring Myanmar. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
Myanmar’s ruling junta makes rare appeal for humanitarian aid
Myanmar’s ruling junta has made a rare request for international humanitarian aid and declared a state of emergency across six regions after a powerful quake hit the country on Friday.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived at a hospital in Naypyidaw where wounded were being treated after the 7.7-magnitude quake hit central Myanmar, AFP reported.
Updates have been difficult to get hold of from the country, which has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2021. The state controls almost all of local radio, television, print and online media. Internet use is also restricted.
At least two people dead and ‘unknown number’ under Bangkok skyscraper rubble
Two people were killed and seven rescued after a building collapse in Bangkok that was triggered by 7.7 magnitude earthquake, emergency services have said
Thai emergency responders say two people have been found dead and an “unknown number of others” are still under the rubble of a building that collapsed after a massive earthquake hit the capital, Bangkok.
Rescue worker Songwut Wangpon told reporters another seven people had been found alive, as he spoke outside the tall pile of rubble that was once a high-rise building under construction, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The multistory structure collapsed after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck midday on Friday, sending the crane on top toppling to the ground and a massive plume of dust into the air.
Dozens missing after building under construction collapses
Some 43 construction workers are missing after the earthquake caused an unfinished 30-storey building in Bangkok to collapse, Thai authorities say.
They said 50 people were inside the building near Chatuchak Park, hundreds of miles away from the earthquake’s epicentre in Myanmar.
The National Institute for Emergency Medicine said seven escaped while 43 others remain trapped.
Local police also said 43 people are missing, the AFP news agency reported.
Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP: “When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me.”
The building was intended for government offices.
State of emergency declared in one of world’s largest cities
The Prime Minister of Thailand has officially declared as state of emergency in Bangkok. Buildings have been seen collapsing in Thailand after a huge 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck.
Evacuations have been ordered throughout the country, with the epicentre thought to be Bangkok, which is the world’s 30th largest city. The quake is said to have originated in Myanmar, however, Thailand is where the damage has been caused. In one dramatic video, a building still under contstruction was captured collapsing as workers fled to safety.
And Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the Prime Minister of Thailand, declared a state of emergency and said: “All relevant ministries have been activated. We urge the public to remain calm but vigilant. Schools have been dismissed early for the safety of students. Further updates will be provided as the situation unfolds.”
Evacuate homes plea
Bangkok, Thailand Governor Chadchart orders hospitals to evacuate patients immediately if cracks are found in buildings following magnitude 8.2 earthquake in Myanmar
Second quake hits the area
A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, shook the area 12 minutes later.
The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
Alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1.30pm local time, and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise buildings and hotels in densely populated central Bangkok.
They remained in the streets, seeking shade from the midday sun in the minutes after the quake.
Quake hits other countries
The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), with an epicenter in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.
In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.
What we know so far
Buldings have been seen collapsing in Thailand after a huge 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck. Evacuations have been ordered throughout the country, wiuth the epicentre thought to be Bangkok.
The quake is thought to have originated in Myanmar, however Thailand is where the damage has been caused. In one dramatic video, a building still under contstruction was captured collapsing as workers fled to safety.
So far, no confirmation of any casualties suffered has been given by Thai officials. According to The Thaiger, tremors have also been felt in Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, as social media clips showed infinity pools in one hi-rise building flooding out over the top.
