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A powerful earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday afternoon, causing at least 152 deaths and serious damage in the country’s central region and even hundreds of miles away in Bangkok, capital of neighbouring Thailand.
The epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake was just outside Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city with a population of 1.5mn. A second quake was registered 12 minutes later with a magnitude of 6.4, according to the US Geological Survey.
“High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” an initial USGS assessment said.
The leader of Myanmar’s military government said in a televised address on Friday evening that at least 144 people had died and 730 others had sustained injuries, according to the Associated Press.
“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” said General Min Aung Hlaing.
Videos and photographs showed buildings in Mandalay, the country’s historic capital, reduced to rubble, and damage to the former royal palace. A 90-year-old bridge collapsed, while sections of the highway connecting Mandalay with Yangon, the country’s most populous city, were damaged.
Myanmar’s ruling junta declared a state of emergency. The country has been embroiled in civil war since a 2021 military coup that deposed the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid,” the military regime wrote on Telegram.
Myanmar restricts the ability of local and foreign journalists to report freely in the country.
Videos on social media appeared to show damage to Mandalay’s university and airport. Myanmar National Airlines said it had cancelled some flights.
The earthquake on Friday was the strongest recorded since a 7.8 magnitude quake struck Turkey and Syria two years ago, causing more than 60,000 fatalities.
“This is probably the biggest earthquake on the Myanmar mainland in three quarters of a century, and a combination of size and very shallow depth will maximise the chances of damage,” said Bill McGuire, an emeritus professor of geophysical hazards at University College London.
The UN humanitarian affairs agency OCHA said initial reports indicated “significant damage” in central Myanmar, including Mandalay state, the capital Naypyidaw, and the Bago, Magway, Sagaing and Shan regions.
“We are gathering information about the people impacted, infrastructure damage, and immediate humanitarian needs to guide a response and will share more updates as information becomes available,” it said.
At least eight people died in Bangkok, according to the Associated Press. In the Thai capital, which is more than 600 miles away from the earthquake and home to 17mn people, high-rise buildings swayed and one 30-storey structure that was under construction collapsed.
The Thai stock exchange halted afternoon trading following the quake, while Bangkok’s public transport was suspended.
“Now everything is at a standstill,” said Roman Devero, a Russian expatriate who was shopping in Bangkok’s Chinatown when the earthquake hit.
Supitchaya Didson, a worker at a Bangkok hotel, said she had “never experienced anything” like the fierce shaking of the building.
The government declared Bangkok a disaster area and said its telecommunication system had been disrupted, but the city’s airports remained open and the civil aviation department said flights were operating normally.
Myanmar has been under military rule, and diplomatically isolated from many of its former allies and trading partners, since the coup in February 2021.
But leader Min Aung Hlaing’s forces have lost ground over the past year in a widening conflict against various armed pro-democracy and ethnic minority armed groups, including in the Burmese-speaking central regions, where the quake occurred.
Rights group Amnesty International said the earthquake “could not come at a worse time for Myanmar”, urging the junta to offer full access to humanitarian aid in an area it said was already ravaged by military air strikes and years of fighting.
The quake was felt in regions across Thailand, according to the country’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Office workers in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, also evacuated buildings after the tremors, which were felt as far away as China’s Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social media platform X that India stood ready to offer “all possible assistance”.
Cartography by Steven Bernard
