On Friday at 12.50pm local time, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southeast Asia near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city.
Geologists believe a strike-slip fault, where one tectonic plate plunges beneath another, between the Indian and Sunda plates along the Sagaing Fault caused the incident.
• Myanmar earthquake: latest news
Tectonic plates map
The tremor was about 10km deep, according to the US Geological Survey (USGA), and an aftershock of 6.4 magnitude arrived minutes later. The earthquake that killed more than 55,000 in Turkey and Syria in 2023 was rated 7.8 and 10km deep.
• The science of the Sagaing Fault
On Friday tremors were felt in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, more than a thousand kilometres away. Apartment buildings shook with the impact — some spewing water from rooftop swimming pools.
Damage was also reported across the border with China in the Yunnan province.
Myanmar map
The earthquake’s impact
Reliable information about the impact of the quake in Myanmar is sparse, as the government is controlled by a junta and the country is in the midst of a civil war. The regime, which seized power in 2021 has been called a “digital dictatorship”.
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
The USGA estimated that Sagaing city, a small urban area with only 79,000 residents, was among the worst hit, but there were few reliable reports from the area.
State media confirmed buildings in at least five cities, two bridges and an expressway had collapsed due to the earthquake.
Video posted online appeared to show cars being shaken in the street and buildings swaying because of the force of the impact.
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Social media posts, reportedly from Mandalay, showed collapsed buildings and debris scattered around the streets.
The roof of the regional airport partly came down and there were reports that all flights had been cancelled.
X (Twitter) content blocked
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
“Mandalay University has collapsed and burnt due to the earthquake,” a lecturer said. “There [were] exams being held inside the university.”
A large group in traditional Buddhist dress were seen standing near a destroyed building, watching on in shock as another large apartment block fell forwards.
Video posted online shows the 16-arch Ava suspension bridge, built by the British in 1934, completely destroyed by the earthquake.
At least three people were killed when a mosque collapsed in Taungoo, hundreds of kilometres south of the epicentre, according to Reuters.
Twenty people were confirmed dead by the heavily damaged Naypyidaw General Hospital in the country’s capital, where the military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, met survivors.
Air traffic controllers died in a collapsed control tower and senior ministers were killed inside government buildings, according to the Yangon Times.
Damage in Thailand
In neighbouring Thailand the governor of Bangkok confirmed in the early afternoon that several tall apartment blocks had been damaged by the earthquake and its aftershocks.
The city was declared a disaster zone by the local authorities after a high-rise building still under construction collapsed.
More than 80 people were missing, according to the defence minister.
“Debris like cement pieces started falling down, and the shaking got stronger, so I shouted for everyone to run,” Sunan Kenkiat, a survivor from the building, told CNN. “After the boom, I couldn’t see anything. I was just running to find a way out.”
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the prime minister, cut short an official visit to Phuket to come to the site.
She reassured the population that there was “no possibility of a tsunami” as the governor of Bangkok warned of potential aftershocks.
Many of the 17 million residents of the Bangkok metropolitan region live in high-rise buildings. However, these tend to be built to a higher standard than those in neighbouring Myanmar, which has suffered from years of war and corruption.
Rescue efforts
In the early evening, the foreign minister of Myanmar’s civilian government in exile called for urgent international assistance and said that internet access for the public was restricted. They added that anti-government rebels would assist in humanitarian efforts.
The death toll in Myanmar has risen to more than 1,600, the country’s military leadership said, while the number of injured is 3,408, with 139 missing.
After urging from Amnesty International, the military government also appealed for local and international aid.
It said blood supplies in its hospitals may be insufficient amid such high demand and a spokesperson urged potential donors to contact hospitals. They also appealed for donations of medical supplies from abroad.
The international request is a rare call for outside assistance from the military leadership of Myanmar. The country has suffered heavy sanctions since Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government was overthrown, with the country largely reliant on China for support.
• Will the Myanmar earthquake spell the end of the junta?
Min Aung Hlaing, the junta’s leader, said in a television address on Friday night that India had pledged assistance, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, rescuers in Bangkok worked through 36C heat to remove rubble and find survivors in collapsed buildings.
Nine people were confirmed dead shortly after sunset, according to Reuters.
Britons in the region affected by the disaster were urged by David Lammy, the foreign secretary, to contact British embassies.
At about 9pm local time, António Guterres, the secretary-general of the UN, said the organisation had been mobilised to assist with the disaster response.
Dr Margaret Harris of the World Health Organisation told Times Radio that rescue operations in Myanmar would be “much more difficult” than those in Thailand.
“We’re hearing about huge amounts of damage and trying to understand the level of disruption,” she said.
“When you’ve got a large number of internally displaced people, their health needs are much more complex. And then you’re simply now adding to more people who’ve lost their homes and are in a state of great confusion.”
