Many feared dead as powerful 7.7-magnitude quake hits Myanmar with tremors felt across the region

At least 150 people are dead after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the heart of war-ravaged Myanmar on Friday, triggering the collapse of buildings across the region.

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) — A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the heart of war-ravaged Myanmar on Friday, triggering the collapse of buildings across the region leaving scores of people killed and the toll expected to rise.

The earthquake cut through a vast and varied corner of Southeast Asia, sending terrifying tremors through rural villages caught in the middle of Myanmar’s civil war all the way to the glitzy high-rises of traffic-filled Bangkok. Shaking was even felt across the border in China’s southwestern remote and mountainous Yunnan province.

“Mother Nature was having its way – like swatting a fly,” Erik Jonan, a US citizen visiting a friend in the southern Thai city of Pattaya, told CNN.

At least 144 people have been killed and more than 730 others were injured, the head of Myanmar’s military government said late Friday evening. Deaths have also been reported in Thailand. Rescue officials are now scrambling to respond to the disaster in countries with very different resources.

Myanmar, one of Asia’s poorest nations, that has spent much of its recent history under military rule, has a long and troubled track record of struggling to respond to major natural disasters.

In contrast, neighboring Thailand is far more prosperous and a major tourist destination, with well-resourced and experienced rescue teams.

Video posted online showed panicked residents across Myanmar and Thailand running from swaying residential towers as dust fills the air, and traffic comes to a sudden stop on busy city streets.

Myanmar’s military junta declared an “emergency situation” across much of the center of the country, including in the second most populous city Mandalay and the military-built capital of Naypyidaw. It confirmed that the nation is facing multiple fatalities and urged people to donate blood to hospitals treating the injured.

Thailand’s prime minister also declared an “emergency zone” in Bangkok after the quake triggered the collapse of an under-construction high-rise building near the city’s Chatuchak Park before later saying the situation had eased. The collapse killed at least three people, according to Defense Minister Phumtham Wechachai.

“It was shaking and I felt dizzy,” Sunan Kenkiat, 31, said of the moment the high-rise building began to rock. “After that, debris like cement pieces started falling down, and the shaking got stronger, so I shouted for everyone to run.”

Rescue crews are racing to free 81 people trapped under the rubble of the building, Reuters reported, citing a Thai deputy prime minister. Bangkok’s regional governor warned people to be cautious after many high-rise buildings were damaged. Two other deaths have been reported in the capital, authorities said.

‘Disaster on top of disaster’ for Myanmar

Myanmar is already reeling from four years of civil war sparked by a bloody and economically destructive military coup, which has seen junta forces battle rebel groups across the country. The coup and ensuing conflict has battered its health infrastructure, leaving it ill-equipped to deal with major natural disasters.

Swathes of the country lie outside the control of the junta and are a run by a patchwork of ethnic rebels and militias, making compiling reliable information extremely difficult.

With electricity and internet down in parts of the country, the full extent of the damage is not known to the outside world. Amnesty International has urged the ruling junta to allow aid groups to enter freely, saying the quake “could not come at a worse time” for the war-ravaged country.

Tom Andrew, the United Nations special rapporteur for Myanmar, said the quake would pile “a disaster on top of a disaster.” With more than 20 million people already in need of humanitarian aid and some 3.5 million internally displaced, “I shudder to think what will be happening in the next few days as rescue operations kick in,” Andrews told CNN.

A resident of Mandalay told CNN they weren’t sure they would survive the quake.

“The quake was very powerful, we could not run out of the building immediately,” said Tun Kyaw, 26, asking to use a pseudonym.

“It was like the whole building was going to collapse. I was not sure I would get out alive.”

The quake hit around 12:50 p.m. local time close to Mandalay, the former royal capital that is home to about 1.5 million people and boasts a host of historic temple complexes and palaces. Several aftershocks have since struck nearby, including one of 6.4-magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The epicenter was recorded in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region, which has been ravaged by the civil war, with the junta, pro-military militia and rebel groups battling for control and all running checkpoints, making travel by road or river extremely difficult.

Sagaing is largely rural with dwellings mostly built with wood and thatch. Communications in the area are typically patchy due to intermittent fighting between the junta and rebel groups.

There was no immediate word from Myanmar authorities about the extent of the damage.

In the town of Taungoo, 70 miles south of the capital Naypyidaw, three people were killed after a mosque partially collapsed, Reuters reported, as authorities launch rescue efforts.

One resident in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial hub and around 380 miles away from the epicenter, told CNN: “We felt the quake for about one minute and then we ran out of the building.”

“We saw other people running out of the buildings too. It was very sudden and very strong.”

Another resident said phone networks in the city home to around 8 million people were briefly down following the quake, but were now working again.

A Yangon resident named Wang, who was on the 20th floor of a building when the quake hit, said “people next to me were all scared to death.”

“The quake felt so strong, and lasted really long,” said Wang, who did not want to give her first name.

Video obtained by CNN from Myanmar appeared to show a road bridge spanning the Irrawaddy River, which runs through Mandalay, collapsing into the river in a cloud of dust and water.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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