A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the heart of war-ravaged Myanmar on Friday, triggering the collapse of buildings across the region leaving scores of people killed and the toll expected to rise.
The earthquake cut through a vast and varied corner of Southeast Asia, sending terrifying tremors through rural villages caught in the middle of Myanmar’s civil war all the way to the glitzy high-rises of traffic-filled Bangkok. Shaking was even felt across the border in China’s southwestern remote and mountainous Yunnan province.
“Mother Nature was having its way – like swatting a fly,” Erik Jonan, a US citizen visiting a friend in the southern Thai city of Pattaya, told CNN.
At least 144 people have been killed and more than 730 others were injured, the head of Myanmar’s military government said late Friday evening. Deaths have also been reported in Thailand. Rescue officials are now scrambling to respond to the disaster in countries with very different resources.
Myanmar, one of Asia’s poorest nations, that has spent much of its recent history under military rule, has a long and troubled track record of struggling to respond to major natural disasters.
In contrast, neighboring Thailand is far more prosperous and a major tourist destination, with well-resourced and experienced rescue teams.
Video posted online showed panicked residents across Myanmar and Thailand running from swaying residential towers as dust fills the air, and traffic comes to a sudden stop on busy city streets.
Myanmar’s military junta declared an “emergency situation” across much of the center of the country, including in the second most populous city Mandalay and the military-built capital of Naypyidaw. It confirmed that the nation is facing multiple fatalities and urged people to donate blood to hospitals treating the injured.
Story credit- CNN
