Thai officials said more than 100 people were missing and three people were dead when a skyscraper under construction collapsed in Bangkok, while at least 20 people have reportedly died in wartorn Myanmar.
Thai officials said more than 100 people were missing and three people were dead when a skyscraper under construction collapsed in Bangkok, while at least 20 people have reportedly died in wartorn Myanmar.
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Updated March 28, 2025 — 10.24pmfirst published at 5.47pm
Bangkok: Dozens of people are buried in rubble and more than 20 people are dead after the world’s strongest earthquake in two years rattled Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar on Friday.
Thai officials said more than 100 people were missing and three people were dead in Bangkok after a high-rise building that was under construction crumbled during the 7.7-magnitude quake, which hit at lunchtime. At least 20 people also died in wartorn Myanmar, The New York Times reported, and the United Nations said the damage there was significant.
The earthquake was at a depth of only 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ centre for geosciences. It was the strongest quake recorded worldwide since 2023, according to USGS data compiled by Bloomberg, and the strongest quake to hit Myanmar in a century. A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, shook the area 12 minutes later.
Bangkok has been declared a disaster area and rescue workers say the rubble at the site of the collapsed tower is still too unstable for them to try and find people possibly trapped beneath. Seven people have been rescued from outside the building. A dramatic video circulated on social media showed a multi-storey building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, while onlookers screamed and ran.
In Myanmar, the military-run government declared a state of emergency in six regions and states, including capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, and called for international humanitarian assistance. With the country in the midst of a prolonged bloody civil war it was not clear how help would get to many regions.
“We expect that there will be many injuries and deaths,” Myanmar military spokesman General Zaw Min Tun said. “We will also need international humanitarian assistance in this regard. Please contact the government and take action.”
Outside a hospital in Mandalay, which was close to the epicentre of the quake, one woman who was bleeding heavily told The New York Times that her three-year-old daughter had been killed at home when the quake struck while they were eating lunch.
“As soon as it started, I ran downstairs, but I didn’t make it in time,” Daw Kyi Shwin said. “I tried to run to her, but before I could, bricks fell on me too.
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“There’s no government to help us, not enough doctors to care for us,” she said. “I’m going to die. I don’t want to die. Please help.”
At least 20 people were dead in the city, the New York Times reported.
The Myanmar government said on the Telegram messaging app that it would “make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid”. But the Red Cross said downed power lines were adding to challenges for their teams trying to reach Mandalay and Sagaing regions and southern Shan state.
Damage was also reported in China, with authorities there warning of the possibility of a tsunami, according to a report on state-owned CCTV. China’s Xinhua news agency said strong tremors were felt in south-western Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, but there were no reports of casualties.
‘Screaming and panic’
The sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles filled the street, leaving some of the city’s already congested streets gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway were shut down.
Water from high-rise rooftop pools in Bangkok sloshed over the side as they shook during the quake, and debris fell from many buildings. People who had evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more quakes.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said many high-rise buildings in the capital, which is home to 17 million people, had been damaged and inspections were under way. He said public hospitals had been declared safe and patients could return. He urged people to be cautious.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake while Sittipunt was placed in charge of co-ordinating the city’s disaster response.
Scottish tourist Fraser Morton was in one of Bangkok’s many shopping centres looking for camera equipment when the earthquake hit.
“All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” he said.
“I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”
Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park – away from the tall buildings all around.
“I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” he said. “Lots of chaos.”
Voranoot Thirawat, a lawyer working in central Bangkok, said her first indication that something was wrong came when she saw a light swinging back and forth. Then she heard the building creaking as it moved back and forth from the shockwaves.
She and her colleagues ran down 12 flights of stairs. “In my lifetime, there was no earthquake like this in Bangkok,” she said.
Myanmar bridge collapses, highway damaged
Myanmar is in the midst of a civil war and many areas are not easily accessible so it was not immediately clear what relief efforts the military would be able to provide.
In Mandalay, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on social media.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.
In the Sagaing region just south-west of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.
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In Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.
AP, Reuters, Bloomberg with Zach Hope
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