Powerful Quake in Southeast Asia Kills Several, Myanmar Declares State of Emergency
A powerful earthquake rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, killing several people, bringing down a skyscraper under construction in Bangkok and toppling buildings in neighboring Myanmar, where the ruling junta declared a state of emergency in some areas.
At least three people were killed in the town of Taungoo in Myanmar when a mosque partially collapsed, witnesses said, while local media reported that at least two people died and 20 were injured after a hotel collapsed in Aung Ban.
In Thailand, at least one person was killed and dozens of workers were rescued from under the rubble of the skyscraper that had been under construction in Bangkok, Thailand’s National Institute of Emergency Medicine said.
Bangkok’s city authorities declared the capital a disaster-stricken area, saying they needed to assess and monitor damaged areas, and assist people who might still be at risk.
In Bangkok, people ran out onto the streets in panic, many of them hotel guests in bathrobes and swimming costumes as water cascaded down from an elevated pool at a luxury hotel, witnesses said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which struck at lunchtime, was of 7.7 magnitude and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). It was followed by a powerful aftershock.
The epicenter was about 17.2 km from the Myanmar city of Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5 million.
