Earthquake: 185 Dead, 800 Injured in Myanmar, Thailand
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mr 28: At least 185 people were killed and over 800 injured after a series of earthquakes, the strongest being of 7.7 magnitude on the Richter scale, hit Myanmar and Thailand on Friday, official sources said.
The epicentre of the earthquake which first hit at 12.50 PM (local time) was near Sagaing in central Myanmar, sources said.
The toll includes casualties from a hospital in capital Naypyidaw which is likely to turn out to be a mass casualty area due to collapse of a mosque killing at least 20 people in Mandalay when people were praying inside and a university building in the same city in which a fire broke out.
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who warned the number of dead was likely to increase, has declared an ’emergency’ and appealed for aid, asking for “any country and any organisation” to step forward.
Tremors were felt as far away as northern Thailand, where some metro and rail services were suspended in the Thai capital. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra broke off an official visit to Phuket to hold an urgent review meet, after which she too declared a state of ’emergency’ in the city. Till late in the evening, only three people were confirmed dead in the collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok with 81 more missing and believed trapped in the twisted metal and rubble of the under-construction building.
China’s Yunnan province also reported strong tremors; the China Earthquake Networks Center said the magnitude was 7.9. And mild tremors were also reported from Kolkata and parts of Manipur in India, where tremors of 4.4 magnitude were recorded, as well as Dhaka and Chattogram in Bangladesh. Tremors and aftershocks were also felt in Vietnam.
Terrifying videos showed buildings shaking in Bangkok and other cities, with people running onto the streets in panic. “I heard it… I was sleeping in the house and then I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the building,” one of the residents in Chiang Mai said.
One particularly horrifying video showed water from an infinity pool falling over the edge. And another showed a 30-floor, under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok’s Chatuchak neighbourhood collapsing. According to Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, 84 workers were trapped.
“When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me,” deputy police chief Worapat Sukthai said. “We estimate hundreds are injured but are still determining number of casualties.” Three deaths have been confirmed from this spot so far.
A hospital in the Myanmar capital received “hundreds of casualties”, media reports said. Videos showed the entrance arch to the emergency department had collapsed onto a car, forcing medics to treat patients outside and on the road.
An old bridge over the Irrawaddy River and several residential buildings also collapsed, with images from Mandalay (around 24km from Sagaing) suggesting dozens more may be trapped. Other videos showed extensive damage to the airport in Mandalay and to a monastery near the city of Taunggyi, in Myanmar’s Shan State that is on the border to Thailand.
Rescue teams have launched extensive operations to search for survivors but the situation is dire, with reports of collapsed buildings and damaged infrastructure, particularly in the Mandalay region. Roads between Mandalay and Yangon were also damaged and this has hampered relief efforts.
