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Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Residents describe horror in aftermath of earthquake in Myanmar
People in Myanmar and Thailand have been talking about their shock and horror after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, toppling buildings across the two countries. A resident in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, told the BBC the shakes were "quite intense" and lasted for around four minutes. Speaking to the BBC World Service's Newsday programme, the man, who wished to stay anonymous for security reasons, described waking from a nap to the building shaking violently. "It lasted around three to four minutes", he told the BBC, "I was receiving messages from friends and realising that it was not just in Yangon, but also many places across the country." The tremors, felt across Thailand and as far as China, caused a 30-storey skyscraper to collapse in the Thai capital Bangkok, trapping 43 workers under the rubble. Residents ran into the streets as buildings shook and water splashed from rooftop swimming pools. Live: Follow the latest on the Myanmar earthquake Watch: Moment Bangkok high-rise under construction collapses What we know so far In pictures: Damaged buildings and buckled roads Sirinya Nakuta told Reuters she was in her apartment with her children when the earthquake struck: "It didn't stop. I heard things falling down from upstairs like stones hitting on us. I told my kids, we can't stay here and we have to get out of here. So we ran down." Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told the French news agency AFP that he could hear the sound of people screaming under the tower block collapse. He said: "When I arrived at the site, I heard people calling for help, saying 'help me'. We estimate that hundreds are injured, but we are still determining the number of casualties." As the scale of destruction emerged, Myanmar officials declared a "mass casualty area" at Naypyidaw General Hospital, where patients lay on gurneys outside, intravenous drips hanging from makeshift stands. The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since its 2021 coup made a rare appeal for international assistance, declaring a state of emergency across six regions. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was seen visiting Naypyidaw hospital. He pleaded for foreign assistance: "We want the international community to send humanitarian aid as soon as possible." Access to information in the military-ruled country is difficult. Internet use is also restricted. Communication lines also appear to be down as the BBC has been unable to get through to aid agencies on the ground. In Bangkok, where metro and rail services were suspended, Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs described evacuating a restaurant. She said: "I was waiting for the bill and suddenly I started feeling the earth shake. At first, I thought it was just me, but then I saw everyone looking around. We ran outside immediately." Deborah Punmachet was checking her phone when her chair suddenly toppled over. She said: "I was in my La-Z-Boy [a recliner] and all of a sudden it moved back and forth. Then it flipped over and I hit my head on a table." Bui Thu, a BBC journalist who lives in Bangkok, said it had been at least a decade since the country experienced a powerful earthquake like it. In Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, social media images showed collapsed buildings, including parts of the historic royal palace. A 90-year-old bridge crumbled, while sections of the main highway linking Yangon to the city were torn apart. The United States Geological Survey has issued a "red alert", warning that "high casualties and extensive damage are probable". The death toll remains unknown, but the USGS estimates it could be in the thousands. Moment Bangkok high-rise under construction collapses
Observer
28-03-2025
- General
- Observer
Powerful earthquake rocks Myanmar, Thailand
A powerful earthquake rattled Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, trapping dozens of workers in a collapsed under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok where a state of emergency was declared. The 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing on Friday afternoon at a shallow depth, the United States Geological Survey said. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later. In the Thai capital, a 30-storey building under construction collapsed, trapping 43 workers, police and medics said. The massive building intended for government offices was reduced to a tangle of rubble and twisted metal in seconds, footage shared on social media showed. "When I arrived to inspect the site, I heard people calling for help, saying help me," Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP. "We estimate that hundreds of people are injured but we are still determining the number of casualties," he said. Across the border in Myanmar, a team of AFP journalists were at the National Museum in Naypyidaw when the earthquake struck. Pieces fell from the ceiling as the building began shaking. Uniformed staff ran outside, some trembling and tearful, others grabbing cellphones to try to contact loved ones. Roads nearby were buckled and broken by the tremors and the route to one of the city's biggest hospitals was jammed with traffic. The hospital was a "mass casualty area" after the quake, officials said. An ambulance made its way between vehicles, a paramedic shouting "cars, move aside so the ambulance can get through." At the 1,000-bed hospital, the wounded were being treated in the street outside, intravenous drips hanging from their gurneys. Some writhed in pain, others lay still as relatives sought to comfort them. The tremors send people into the streets across both countries. "I heard it and I was sleeping in the house, I ran as far as I could in my pyjamas out of the building," Duangjai, a resident of the popular northern Thailand tourist city Chiang Mai, told AFP. Sai, a 76-year-old Chiang Mai resident, was working at a minimart when the shop started the shake. "I quickly rushed out of the shop along with other customers," he said. "This is the strongest tremor I've experienced in my life." - Buildings damaged - The quake forced the suspension of some metro and light rail services in Bangkok, where Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra declared a state of emergency. Earlier she said she had interrupted an official visit to the southern island of Phuket to hold an "urgent meeting" after the quake, according to a post on X. Tremors were also felt in China's southwest Yunnan province, according to Beijing's quake agency, which said the jolt measured 7.9 in magnitude. A major hospital in the Myanmar capital Naypyidaw is a "mass casualty area" after the country was rocked by a massive earthquake, an official at the facility told AFP. Rows of wounded were treated outside the emergency department of the 1,000-bed general hospital, some writhing in pain, others lying still as relatives sought to comfort them.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lines of wounded at Myanmar hospital after powerful quake
Rows of wounded lay outside the emergency department of the 1,000-bed hospital in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Friday, some writhing in pain and others in shock after a powerful earthquake. A stream of casualties were brought to the hospital -- some in cars, others in pickups, and others carried on stretchers, their bodies bloody and covered in dust. "This is a mass casualty area", a hospital official said, as they ushered journalists away from the treatment area. The hospital itself was hit by the terrifying tremors, which buckled roads and ripped tarmac apart as the ground vibrated violently for around half a minute. The hospital's emergency department was itself heavily damaged, a car crushed under the heavy concrete of its fallen entrance. "Many injured people have been arriving, I haven't seen anything like this before," a doctor at the hospital told AFP. "We are trying to handle the situation. I'm so exhausted." Some cried in pain, others lay still as relatives sought to comfort them, intravenous drips from their arms. "Hundreds of injured people are arriving... but the emergency building here also collapsed," security officials at the hospital said. Others sat stunned with their head in their hands, blood caking their faces and limbs. Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing visited the hospital, surveying the wounded lying on stretchers. - 'Help me' - The Myanmar capital is some 250 kilometres (150 miles) south from the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude shallow tremor, that hit northwest of the city of Sagaing on Friday afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey. A 6.4-magnitude aftershock hit the same area minutes later. A team of AFP journalists were at the National Museum in Naypyidaw when the earthquake struck, with chunks of the ceiling falling and cracks running up the walls. The road to one of the biggest hospitals in Naypyidaw was jammed with traffic. As ambulance weaved between vehicles, and shouting paramedic pleaded to be allowed to get through to reach the care of doctors. Those inside ran outside, many trembling and tearful, and frantically trying to call family members on their phones to check if they were alive. Powerful tremors were also felt in neighbouring China and in Thailand, where buildings in the capital Bangkok were shaken violently. Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bangkok's Bang Sue district, said he could hear the sound of people screaming for aid trapped in the debris after a 30-story under-construction tower block collapse. "I heard people calling for help, saying help me," he told AFP. "We estimate that hundreds of people are injured but we are still determining the number of casualties." "I fear many lives have been lost. We have never experienced an earthquake with such a devastating impact before." Bangkok residents are used to tremors -- and know to find a safe space outside if possible -- but many said the force on Friday came as a shock. "I was shopping inside a mall when I noticed some signs moving, so I quickly ran outside," said Attapong Sukyimnoi, a broker. "I knew I had to get to an open space -- it was instinct." burs-pjm/hmn
BBC News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Thailand and Myanmar residents describe horror after earthquake
People in Myanmar and Thailand have been talking about their shock and horror after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, toppling buildings across the two countries.A resident in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, told the BBC the shakes were "quite intense" and lasted for around four minutes. Speaking to the BBC World Service's Newsday programme, the man, who wished to stay anonymous for security reasons, described waking from a nap to the building shaking violently. "It lasted around three to four minutes", he told the BBC, "I was receiving messages from friends and realising that it was not just in Yangon, but also many places across the country." The tremors, felt across Thailand and as far as China, caused a 30-storey skyscraper to collapse in the Thai capital Bangkok, trapping 43 workers under the ran into the streets as buildings shook and water splashed from rooftop swimming pools. Sirinya Nakuta told Reuters she was in her apartment with her children when the earthquake struck: "It didn't stop. I heard things falling down from upstairs like stones hitting on us. I told my kids, we can't stay here and we have to get out of here. So we ran down."Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told the French news agency AFP that he could hear the sound of people screaming under the tower block said: "When I arrived at the site, I heard people calling for help, saying 'help me'. We estimate that hundreds are injured, but we are still determining the number of casualties."As the scale of destruction emerged, Myanmar officials declared a "mass casualty area" at Naypyidaw General Hospital, where patients lay on gurneys outside, intravenous drips hanging from makeshift stands. The military junta that has ruled Myanmar since its 2021 coup made a rare appeal for international assistance, declaring a state of emergency across six regions. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was seen visiting Naypyidaw hospital. He pleaded for foreign assistance: "We want the international community to send humanitarian aid as soon as possible."Access to information in the military-ruled country is difficult. Internet use is also restricted. Communication lines also appear to be down as the BBC has been unable to get through to aid agencies on the Bangkok, where metro and rail services were suspended, Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs described evacuating a restaurant. She said: "I was waiting for the bill and suddenly I started feeling the earth shake. At first, I thought it was just me, but then I saw everyone looking around. We ran outside immediately."Deborah Punmachet was checking her phone when her chair suddenly toppled over. She said: "I was in my La-Z-Boy [a recliner] and all of a sudden it moved back and forth. Then it flipped over and I hit my head on a table."Bui Thu, a BBC journalist who lives in Bangkok, said it had been at least a decade since the country experienced a powerful earthquake like Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, social media images showed collapsed buildings, including parts of the historic royal palace. A 90-year-old bridge crumbled, while sections of the main highway linking Yangon to the city were torn United States Geological Survey has issued a "red alert", warning that "high casualties and extensive damage are probable". The death toll remains unknown, but the USGS estimates it could be in the thousands.
BBC News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Powerful earthquake hit Myanmar, trap plenty pipo for Thailand
Just 12 minutes afta di first earthquake hit Myanmar, another one strike, according to US Geological Survey. Di second one get a magnitude of 6.4, e record, less than di earlier one of 7.7. Di epicentre dey 18km (11.1 miles) south of Sagaing. Forty-three construction workers dey miss afta powerful earthquake cause one unfinished 30-storey building for Bangkok to collapse, Thai authorities tok. Fifty pipo bin dey inside di building near Chatuchak Park, wey dey hundreds of miles away from di earthquake epicentre for Myanmar. Seven bin escape while 43 odas still dey trapped, di National Institute for Emergency Medicine tok for Facebook post. AFP news agency also bin report di 43 pipo wey dey miss, dem quote police. "When I arrived to inspect di site, I hear pipo dey call for help, dem say help me," Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, tell AFP. Di building dem plan am for goment offices. 'I panic well-well', Bangkok resident tok Bui Thu, one BBC journalist wey dey live for Bangkok, tell BBC World Service Newsday programme say she bin dey her house dey cook wen di first quake happun. "I bin dey very nervous, I panic well-well," she tok. "I bin no know know wetin e be becos e don reach, I think a decade since Bangkok experience really strong or powerful earthquake like dis." "From my apartment I just see some cracking for di walls and water splashed out of swimming pools and pipo just dey just shout." Sake of aftershock, she, along wit oda pipo, run out enta street. "We just dey try to wrap our heads around wetin dey going on," she tok. "Buildings for Bangkok no dey designed for earthquakes, so I feel say na why I think di damage go big." Wetin we know so far Di earthquake Di damage Goment response Roads crack and building scata for Myanmar Checkout some images now from Naypyidaw, di capital of Myanmar. Why updates from Myanmar dey difficult to get Na military junta dey rule Myanmar since di coup wey happun for 2021, sake of dis, access to information dey difficult. Di state dey controls almost all of local radio, television, print and online media. Internet use also dey restricted. Also e be like say Communication lines dey down as BBC no fit get through to aid agencies wey dey ground. How common earthquakes be for Myanmar? Earthquakes dey more common for Myanmar, compared to Thailand. Between 1930 and 1956, na about six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude near di Sagaing Fault don happun, wey run dey through di centre of di kontri , AFP news agency reports, dem cite USGS. Thailand no be earthquake zone and nearly all earthquakes wey dem don feel dia, wey dey rare, na from neighbouring Myanmar. As buildings for Bangkok no dey engineered for powerful earthquakes, di structural damage fit dey significant. 'I feel di earthquake for a long time,' Yangon resident tok Soe Lwin, for Yangon, Myanmar largest city, say im bin feel di earthquake for a "long time". But, im say e no dey like say widespread damage dey for di downtown area of di former capital. Im add say residents dey worried about di potential for another, bigger earthquake in di coming days. State of emergency declared in six regions of Myanmar Di military junta wey dey rule Myanmar since one coup for 2021 don declare a state of emergency for di regions of Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bago, Easter Shan state and Naypyidaw, according to local media reports. For one statement wey we don see dem add say officials go investigate di damages and begin coordinating rescues for affected areas.
