At least 20 people are thought to have been killed by the earthquake that had its epicentre in Myanmar on Friday and with tremors so strong they were felt in Thailand and China
Myanmar: Earthquake causes extensive damage in Naypyitaw
Heartbreaking footage has emerged of monks in Myanmar walking around the rumble of religious shrines devastated by an earthquake. Clips show holy men in the capital city of Naypyitaw peering into damaged buildings after the natural disaster occurred on Friday.
The epicenter was located 10 miles northwest of the Burmese city of Sagaing, near the city Mandalay, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The tremors were so powerful they were felt in Thailand and China. Multiple footage shared online has shown buildings reduced to dust and rubble as people caught in the tremors were left unable to stand.
READ MORE: Myanmar earthquake UPDATES: Bangkok ’emergency’ and ‘mass casualties’ after horror 8.2 quake
The magnitude was initially reported at a strong 7.7 – however, this has since been upgraded to an even bigger 8.2 by the Thai Meteorological Department. The earthquake is also believed to have killed least 20 worshippers with others feared trapped after a mosque in Mandalay in Myanmar. collapsed.
While in Thailand, the whole of Bangkok has been declared an “emergency zone” as Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn advises people to evacuate tall buildings due to the potential aftershocks. A journalist living in Bangkok said she was cooking at home when the first quake struck.
Bui Thu, who works for the BBC, said: “I was very nervous, I was very panicked. “I didn’t know what it was because it has been, I think a decade since Bangkok had a really strong or powerful earthquake like this.
“In my apartment I just see some cracking on the walls and water splashed out of swimming pools and people just yelling.” The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
Alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1.30pm local time, and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise buildings and hotels in densely populated central Bangkok.
They remained in the streets, seeking shade from the midday sun in the minutes after the quake. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake was forceful enough to send water sloshing out of pools, some high up in high-rises, as the tremor shook.
Elsewhere, A British tourist reported seeing entire buildings move amid the devastating earthquake. “All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok’s many malls shopping for camera equipment.
“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.”
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said the earthquake was felt in almost all regions of the country. One person who was on the Bangkok BTS Skytrain posted on social media about how the metro had “started shaking like an earthquake” and that it appeared “ashes are falling” mid-ride.
The USGS has said that buildings in Myanmar and Thailand are especially vulnerable to the effects of earthquakes. The service noted: “Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) and unreinforced brick masonry construction.”
