Powerful earthquake rocks Myanmar and Thailand, killing at least 3 in Bangkok high-rise collapse

BANGKOK (AP) — A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed.

Footage shared on social media from Myanmar's second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed.

The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicentre near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.

The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times — was not yet clear.

Myanmar's government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas. Images of buckled and cracked roads and damaged highways as well as the collapse of a bridge and dam raised further concerns about how rescuers would even reach some areas in a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.

Near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak market, a 33-story building under construction, with a crane on top, crumpled into a cloud of dust, and onlookers could be seen screaming and running in a video posted on social media.

The sound of sirens echoed throughout central Bangkok and vehicles filled the streets, leaving some of the city's already congested streets gridlocked. The elevated rapid transit system and subway shut down.

While the area where the quake struck is prone to earthquakes, they are usually not so big and it is rare for them to felt in the Thai capital, which sits on a river delta and is at moderate risk for quakes.

April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok, initially didn't even realise 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 10th floor of their building and waited outside for a signal that it was safe to go back in.

In Bangkok, at least three people were killed in the building collapse and 90 were missing, according to Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. He offered no more details about the ongoing rescue efforts but first responders said that seven people had been rescued so far from the area.

At least two of the dead were construction workers who were killed by falling rubble or debris, rescue worker Songwut Wangpon told reporters. The building was being built by the China Railway Construction Corporation for Thailand's government auditor general.

Elsewhere, people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more aftershocks.

The US Geological Survey and Germany's GFZ centre for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), according to preliminary reports. Shallower earthquakes tend to cause more damage.

Bangkok's city hall declared the city a disaster area to facilitate the response. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.

"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.

"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."

Like Morton, thousands of people poured into Benjasiri Park from nearby shopping malls, high rises and apartment buildings along Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road.

Many were on phones trying to reach loved ones as others sought shade from the hot early afternoon sun.

"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."

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