News Desk :
Hundreds of people are feared dead after Myanmar was hit with a massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake that was felt in neighbouring Thailand – causing a high-rise building under construction to collapse, reports BBC.
The quake was followed by a second 6.4-magnitude shock, with the US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ centre for geosciences reporting the first tremor’s epicentre in Myanmar.
The quake’s devastation prompted a rare request for international aid from Myanmar’s isolated military junta, which has lost swathes of territory to armed groups, reports AFP.
A state of emergency was declared across the six worst-affected regions.
“About 20 people” were confirmed dead at a hospital in Naypyidaw, a doctor told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Across the border in Thailand, three people were confirmed dead in the collapse of a skyscraper, with 81 more missing and believed trapped in the twisted metal and rubble of the under-construction building.
Myanmar looked to have borne the brunt of the quake, with hundreds of casualties flooding a hospital in the capital Naypyidaw. The emergency department’s entrance had collapsed onto a car, with medics treating patients outside.
A hospital official ushered journalists away, saying: “this is a mass casualty area.”
“I haven’t seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle the situation. I’m so exhausted now,” a doctor told AFP.
Al Jazeera adds, In neighbouring Thailand’s capital Bangkok, at least three people were killed when a 30-storey under-construction tower collapsed, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai announced.
He added that 81 people were trapped under the rubble of the building.
Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan who was in the city when the earthquakes struck, said the entire public transport system has been shuttered for safety reasons.
“People are out on the streets here. None of the trains are moving,” he reported. “Traffic is absolutely gridlocked. The buildings have been shuttered in the centre of the city.”
A worker reacts near a site of a collapsed building after the tremors of a strong earthquake that struck central Myanmar affected Bangkok, Thailand, March 28, 2025. [Ann Wang/Reuters]
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced a state of emergency in her country. Meanwhile, Bangkok has been declared a disaster area, the capital’s city hall said on Friday.
Urban rail systems in Bangkok were temporarily closed but expected to resume services on Saturday.
The earthquakes were also felt in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in China, causing injuries and damage to houses in the city of Ruili on the border with northern Myanmar, according to Chinese media reports.
Videos that one outlet said it had received from a person in Ruili showed building debris littering a street and a person being wheeled on a stretcher towards an ambulance. Cambodia, Bangladesh and India also reported tremors.
