Powerful earthquake rocks Thailand and Myanmar, killing at least 3 in
Bangkok high-rise collapse
[March 28, 2025]
By DAVID RISING and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
BANGKOK (AP) — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and
neighboring Myanmar midday on Friday, killing at least three people in
Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction
collapsed, and prompting Myanmar to declare a widespread state of
emergency.
The midday temblor with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second
largest city, was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.
Myanmar's military-run government declared a state of emergency in six
regions and states including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, but
with the country in the midst of a prolonged bloody civil war it was not
clear how help would get to many regions.
The Red Cross said downed power lines are adding to challenges for their
teams trying to reach Mandalay and Sagaing regions and southern Shan
state.
“Initial reports from the ground suggest the earthquake has caused
significant damage,” the Red Cross said. “Information on humanitarian
needs is still being gathered.”
Crane-topped building collapsed in a cloud of dust
In Bangkok, a construction worker was killed when rubble from the
collapsing building site hit his truck and another was crushed by the
falling debris, rescue worker Songwut Wangpon told reporters.
Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said in all three people were
killed at the site and 90 are missing. He offered no more details about
the ongoing rescue efforts but first responders said that seven people
had been rescued so far from outside the collapsed building.
Rescue workers say the rubble is still too unstable for them to try and
find people possibly trapped beneath.
A dramatic video of the building's collapse near Bangkok’s popular
Chatuchak market circulated on social media showed the multi-story
building with a crane on top toppling into a cloud of dust, while
onlookers screamed and ran.
Elsewhere, people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were
cautioned to stay outside in case there were more aftershocks.
The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said
the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to
preliminary reports.
Screaming and panic as buildings swayed
The sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles
filled the street, leaving some of the city’s already congested streets
gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway were shut down.
City hall declared the city a disaster area to facilitate interagency
aid and emergency help. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17
million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok’s city
center, at first didn’t even realize it was an earthquake, the first
she’d ever experienced. “I just thought I was dizzy,” she said.
She and her colleagues ran downstairs from the tenth floor of their
building, Tonson Tower, and waited outside for a signal that it was safe
to go back in.
“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.”
Like Morton, thousands of people poured into Benjasiri Park from nearby
shopping malls, high rises and apartment buildings along Bangkok’s busy
Sukhumvit Road.
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Damaged pagodas are seen after an earthquake, Friday, March 28, 2025
in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
Many were on phones trying to reach loved ones as others sought
shade from the hot early afternoon sun. Others stared up fearfully
at the tall buildings in the densely packed part of the city.
“I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole
building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” Morton
said. “Lots of chaos.”
Voranoot Thirawat, a lawyer working in central Bangkok, said her
first indication that something was wrong came when she saw a light
swinging back and forth. Then she heard the building creaking as it
moved back and forth from the shockwaves.
She and her colleagues ran down 12 flights of stairs. “In my
lifetime, there was no earthquake like this in Bangkok,” she said.
Paul Vincent, a tourist visiting from England, was at a streetside
bar when the quake struck.
“The next thing, everybody came on the street, so there was a lot of
screaming and panicking, which obviously made it a lot worse,” he
said.
As he came onto the street himself, he said he saw a high-rise
building swaying and water falling from a rooftop pool.
“When I saw the building, oh my God, that’s when ... it hit me,” he
said. “There was people crying in the streets and, you know, the
panic was horrendous really.”
Bridge collapses in Myanmar and injuries reported in China
In Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city and close to the
epicenter, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace
and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook
social media.
While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely
populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.
In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old
bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting
Mandalay and Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.
Residents in Yangon rushed out of their homes when the quake struck.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.
In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines,
sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.
To the northeast, the earthquake was felt in Yunnan and Sichuan
provinces in China and caused damage to houses and injuries in the
city of Ruili on the border with 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
in a stretcher toward an ambulance.
The shaking in Mangshi, a Chinese city about 100 kilometers (60
miles) northeast of Ruili, was so strong that people couldn’t stand,
one resident told The Paper, an online media outlet.
A resident of Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, told The
Paper that her ceiling lamp was swinging wildly and the shaking
lasted more than 10 seconds.
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said the quake was felt
in almost all regions of the country.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to
assess the impact of the quake.
_____
Adam Schreck, Haruka Naga, Jerry Harmer, Grant Peck and Penny Wang
in Bangkok, Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Ken Moritsugu in Beijing
contributed to this report.
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