Southeast Asia quake: Fatal building collapse, state of emergency declared

That includes chilling first-hand accounts from first responders to the skyscraper collapse saying they could hear the voices of trapped workers screaming for help.

A strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says.

The tremor hit 16km northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10km around 12.50 pm local time (7.50pm NZT), USGS said.

Tremors were felt south into Thailand and sent residents in the capital Bangkok running into the streets as buildings shook.

Damage includes a building collapsing in Bangkok, with CNN initially reporting 43 other people were injured in the incident.

It has now been confirmed at least three people died and many more are still trapped in the rubble.

The BBC and AFP are now reporting seven people escaped from the building, while 43 people are still trapped inside.

“When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me,” Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP.

The 30-storey building was being built for a department of the Thai government.

“No one knew what was happening,” he told the Herald, noting he had felt worse earthquakes in NZ but was worried because of the building standards in Thailand.

“Some friends in other parts Bangkok thought they were on a roller coaster,” he said.

The Thai government called an urgent meeting in a bid to gauge the extent of damage in their country, and the required immediate response.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Friday she had interrupted an official visit to the southern island of Phuket to hold an “urgent meeting” after the quake, according to a post on X.

Later it was revealed a state of emergency has been declared.

Shinawatra says his country’s capital city is now an “emergency zone” and warnings have been made for people to avoid large buildings.

“The Prime Minister is returning to Bangkok immediately and urges the public to avoid high-rise buildings, use stairs only, and remain calm,” a government statement said.

“All government agencies have been briefed, and schools have been instructed to send children home early.”

Myanmar’s military leaders have also declared an “emergency situation”.

New Zealand’s Deputy PM Winston Peters posted on social media he was “gravely concerned” at the earthquake.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected.”

He added New Zealanders requiring urgent consular assistance should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 24/7 helpline.

India prime minister Narendra Modi has sent his best to the countries impacted.

“Concerned by the situation in the wake of the Earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand,” he wrote in a message on X.

“Praying for the safety and wellbeing of everyone. India stands ready to offer all possible assistance. In this regard, asked our authorities to be on standby.”

Bangkok-based BBC journalist Bui Thu told the BBC World Service that she was “very panicked” when the quake struck.

“I didn’t know what it was because it has been, I think a decade since Bangkok had a really strong or powerful earthquake like this,” she said.

”In my apartment I just see some cracking on the walls and water splashed out of swimming pools and people just yelling.”

She said she feared the damage would be “big”.

“Buildings in Bangkok are not engineered for earthquakes, so I think that’s why I think there’s going to be big damage.”

Search and rescue operations of collapsed or damaged buildings in Thailand and Myanmar are now underway.

Already tricky communications into Myanmar are set to be further tested by the impact of the earthquake.

“Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2021, making access to information difficult. The state controls almost all of local radio, television, print and online media,” the BBC reported.

“Internet use is also restricted.

“Communication lines also appear to be down as the BBC has been unable to get through to aid agencies on the ground.”

In the capital Naypyidaw, AFP journalists saw the entrance of the emergency department at the city’s main hospital pancaked onto a car.

Wounded at the 1,000-bed facility were being treated outside, intravenous drips hanging from their gurneys. Some writhed in pain, others lay still as relatives sought to comfort them.

A hospital official ushered journalists away, saying: “this is a mass casualty area.”

Another official said hundreds of injured people had arrived at the facility.”I haven’t seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle the situation. I’m so exhausted now,” a doctor told AFP.

The route to the hospital was jammed with vehicles. An ambulance tried to make its way through, a paramedic shouting “cars, move aside so the ambulance can get through.”

“I heard it and I was sleeping in the house, I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the building,” Duangjai, a resident of tourist city Chiang Mai, told AFP after tremors were felt across northern and central Thailand.

Sai, a 76-year-old Chiang Mai resident, was working at a minimart when the shop started the shake.

”I quickly rushed out of the shop along with other customers,” he said.

”This is the strongest tremor I’ve experienced in my life.”

Video shared to social media showed a building under construction collapsing in a cloud of debris.

Another video showed water spilling from a rooftop pool.

Some metro and light rail services were suspended in Bangkok.

A CNN journalist in Bangkok reported frantic scenes in his apartment, with light fixtures swinging back and forth as residents rushed to evacuate the building.

Another resident in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai, who also did not want to be named, said “I felt it for about ten seconds in my room then I figured out I couldn’t stay inside. So I rushed out on to the street.”

AFP journalists in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, said roads were buckled by the force of the tremors and chunks of ceilings fell from buildings.

A resident in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, who did not want to be named, told CNN, “We felt the quake for about one minute and then we ran out of the building.”

“We saw other people running out of the buildings too. It was very sudden and very strong.”

Video from Myanmar also showed the collapse of the Ava Bridge between Ava and Sagaing.

Witnesses said parts of the historic Mandalay Palace in Mandalay were severely damaged in the quake, the Myanmar Now news website reported.

Three residents of Mandalay, one of Myanmar’s largest cities, told Reuters they saw multiple buildings collapsing as scores ran out on to the streets when the quake hit.

A witness told Reuters they had witnessed a multi-level building “collapse in front of my eyes”.

Another local told Reuters “the situation is very bad”.

Journalists based in Myanmar have reported roads in some areas crumbled amid the force of the earthquake.

Residents of China’s southwest Yunnan province also felt the temblor.

The China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said the jolt measured magnitude 7.9, according to the Xinhua news agency, with a social media post by CENC saying “tremors were felt in Yunnan”.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the USGS.

The impoverished Southeast Asian nation has a strained medical system, especially in its rural states.

Several aftershocks have also been recorded, including one registering 6.4.

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