Calamity: Emergency in Myanmar and Thailand after a 7.7 temblor kills many
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A powerful earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale, rattled Myanmar, Thailand, parts of China, among other areas, killing scores, and trapping dozens of workers in a collapsed under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok where a state of emergency was declared, the media reported on Friday.
India has offered help to both Myanmar and Thailand.
According to initial reports, about 20 people were brought dead at a major hospital in Myanmar’s capital after the earthquake caused widespread destruction. “Many people were injured,” said a doctor at the 1,000-bed general hospital in Naypyidaw.
The hospital’s emergency department was itself heavily damaged, and a car crushed under the heavy concrete of its fallen entrance.
The earthquake hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in Myanmar at a shallow depth, the United States Geological Survey said. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later.
In Bangkok, the Thai capital, a 30-storey building under construction collapsed, police and medics said. The massive building intended for government offices was reduced to a tangle of rubble and twisted metal in seconds, footage shared on social media showed.
A stream of casualties was brought to the hospital — some in cars, others in pickups, and still others carried on stretchers, their bodies bloody and covered in dust.
European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said the 27-nation bloc stood ready to help Myanmar and Thailand. “Europe’s Copernicus satellites are already helping first responders. We are ready to provide more support.”
Initial reports on the impact of the earthquake in Myanmar indicated significant damage in the centre of the country, an official from the United Nations Office on Humanitarian Affairs said.
In Bangkok, at least three workers were killed when the under-construction tower collapsed, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said, adding 81 people were trapped in the rubble after the collapse.
Myanmar’s ruling military junta made a rare request for international humanitarian aid and declared a state of emergency across six regions after the huge calamity hit the country.
Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand suspended all trading activities for the afternoon session after the strong earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar, the tremors of which were felt in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.
“Following the earthquake incident, the Stock Exchange of Thailand hereby announces the immediate suspension of all trading activities,” the bourse operator said on its website.
“The closure affects all markets, including SET, the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI), and the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX), for today’s afternoon session.”
