BANGKOK (AP) — A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand on Friday, killing at least 144 people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Photos and video from two hard-hit cities in Myanmar showed many collapsed buildings and other destruction, raising fears that many were killed or injured.
At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, the head of the military government said in the televised speech.
“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said. He said over 700 people had been injured.
The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar ‘s second largest city, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.
The full extent of death, injury and destruction was not immediately clear — particularly in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times and were it appeared to be widespread.
Photos from the capital of Naypyidaw showed multiple buildings used to house civil servants destroyed by the quake, and rescue crews pulling victims from the rubble.
Myanmar’s government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas. Images of buckled and cracked roads in Mandalay and damaged highways as well as the collapse of a bridge and dam raised further concerns about how rescuers would even reach some areas in a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.
