The city of Bangkok As more bodies were rescued from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed when the earthquake struck near the country’s second-biggest city, the death toll from a severe 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar increased to nearly 700 on Saturday. The earthquake struck near the city that is the second largest in the country.
According to a statement released by the administration that is led by the military, another 1,670 people have been hurt, and 694 people have been found dead, as reported by the state-run television station MRTV. Additionally, 68 individuals have been reported missing. It was also stated by the independent news website The Irrawaddy that the same data were reported regarding.
An extended and deadly civil war is currently raging in Myanmar, which is already responsible for a significant humanitarian crisis. Myanmar is currently in the midst of this. Because of this, moving about the country is not only challenging but also dangerous, which makes relief efforts more difficult and raises concerns that the number of fatalities could yet potentially increase dramatically.
The epicenter of the earthquake occurred not far from Mandalay, and it was followed by a number of aftershocks, one of which measured a powerful 6.4 magnitude. The earthquake occurred at midday on Friday. In addition to causing roads to crumble, bridges to fall, and a dam to rupture, it caused buildings in a number of different regions to collapse to the ground.
During a rare television broadcast on Friday, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who is in charge of the military administration of Myanmar, stated that the death toll was expected to increase, despite the fact that he announced that 144 people had been found dead for the first time.
The earthquake shook portions of neighboring Thailand, including the larger Bangkok area, which is home to over 17 million people, the majority of whom reside in high-rise structures, as well as other regions of the country.
Six people have been found dead, 26 people have been injured, and 47 people are still missing, according to the authorities in Bangkok. The majority of the missing persons are from a construction site that is located close to the central market of Chatuchak.
The earthquake caused the high-rise building that was being constructed by a Chinese company for the Thai government to tilt, and then it came crashing down in a big plume of dust that caused people to scream and run away from the site.
Following a rare request for assistance from the ruling junta of the Southeast Asian nation, President Trump made a promise on Friday that the United States will provide assistance to Myanmar after a massive earthquake struck the country. This came after the junta made the request.
During his meeting with reporters in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump stated that he had already communicated with the nation and that “It’s a real bad one, and we will be helping.”
After suffering significant damage as a result of the earthquake, a hospital in the Naypyitaw region was making it difficult to treat a large number of casualties.
According to the United States Geological Survey and the German Federal Center for Geosciences, the initial earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 and occurred at a depth of around 6 miles, which is considered to be rather shallow. The earliest indications indicate that the epicenter of the earthquake was located in Myanmar, close to the city of Mandalay. Twelve minutes after the initial earthquake, an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.4 hit the area.
Destruction in the country of Myanmar
The country of Myanmar is now experiencing a civil conflict, and as a result, many regions are difficult to reach. According to photographs taken in Naypyidaw, the earthquake caused the destruction of a number of buildings that were used to house civil personnel. Rescue crews were seen hauling people out of the rubble.
They said that there was a strong demand for blood in the areas that were most severely affected. After seeing images of roads in Mandalay that were bowed and broken, as well as damaged highways, as well as the collapse of a bridge and a dam, additional worries were raised over the ability of rescue workers to even access certain regions in a country that was already experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis.
It was not immediately clear what kinds of relief efforts the ruling military dictatorship would be able to deliver; however, it sent requests to the world community for any kind of assistance that was available, including blood supplies. It was characterized as a mass casualty situation, and medical personnel were rushing to treat the injured in an outside triage area. The major hospital in the nation’s capital that had incurred substantial damage was described as having these injuries.
The emergency department of the hospital had sustained significant damage, and photographs revealed that an automobile had been crushed beneath the concrete roof that had covered the entrance to the department.
A physician at the institution told AFP that he had never seen anything quite like this before. “Many injured people have been arriving,” the physician said. This is a predicament that we are attempting to manage. I am really worn out.”
People were crying out in anguish, and others were lying still as family attempted to comfort them, according to journalists from AFP who were there at the incident.
“Hundreds of injured people are arriving… but the emergency building here also collapsed,” security personnel at the hospital told AFP. “The emergency building here also collapsed.”
As evidenced by videos and photographs that were shared on social media platforms, the massive earthquake caused damage to a portion of the former royal palace in Mandalay as well as other buildings.
The collapse of a bridge that was 90 years old occurred in the Sagaing region, which is located immediately southwest of Mandalay. Additionally, certain sections of the highway that connects Mandalay to Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, were damaged.
The National Museum in Naypyidaw was the location where a group of journalists from the AFP were present when the initial earthquake struck. They said that chunks of the ceiling fell from the building as it began to shake, and that neighboring roadways buckled.
In Bangkok, a tower that was still under construction collapsed.
The earthquakes caused big buildings in Bangkok, which is the most densely populated city in the world, to sway and caused hundreds of people to flood out onto the streets across the city. Additionally, the public transportation networks in the capital of Thailand were shut down, and trading on the stock exchange was halted.
It was the China Railway Construction Corporation that was responsible for the collapse of the building. The building was being erected for the government auditor general of Thailand.
Video recordings that were shared on social media platforms captured the moment when the high-rise building, which was 33 stories tall, collapsed, causing a tremendous cloud of dust to be released into the air as workers fled the location.
Seven individuals were discovered alive, according to Songwut Wangpon, a rescue worker, who was speaking to reporters next to the tall pile of wreckage that was formerly the incomplete building that was located close to Chatuchak Market, which is particularly popular in Bangkok.
The first earthquake caused the buildings in Bangkok to shake, and as a result, water from rooftop pools in high-rise buildings sloshed over the sides of the structures. Additionally, debris fell from numerous skyscrapers.
An emergency meeting was held by the Prime Minister of Thailand, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in order to evaluate the implications of the earthquakes.
There are almost 17 million people living in the greater Bangkok area, the majority of them reside in flats that are located in high-rise buildings.
Alarms went out in buildings after the first earthquake struck at approximately 1:30 p.m., and residents who were scared were evacuated down stairs of high-rise condominiums and hotels in the central region of Bangkok, which is rich in population density.
They were advised to remain outside in the event that there were other aftershocks, and they continued to remain in the streets, seeking shade from the midday sun. This occurred in the minutes following the initial earthquake.
“All of a sudden, the entire building began to move, and immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland who was shopping for camera equipment in one of Bangkok’s many malls. Morton was in Bangkok for a short period of time.
“I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”
at order to get away from the tall structures that were all around him, Morton took sanctuary at Benjasiri Park, much like hundreds of other people in the downtown area of Bangkok.
“I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” he said to reporters. “Lots of chaos.”
According to the Department of Disaster Prevention in Thailand, the intensity of the initial earthquake was felt in virtually every corner of the country.
Death toll in Myanmar earthquake nears 700, with hundreds more injured.
