A strong earthquake on Friday struck Southeast Asia, collapsing a skyscraper under construction in Bangkok and toppling buildings in neighbouring Myanmar’s second-largest city.
According to Thailand's National Institute of Emergency Medicine, one person was killed and dozens of workers rescued from under the rubble of the skyscraper.
It was gathered that in Bangkok people ran out onto the streets in panic, many of them hotel guests in bathrobes and swimming costumes as water cascaded down from an elevated pool at a luxury hotel.
The United States Geological Survey, USGS, said the quake, which struck at lunchtime, was of 7.7 magnitude and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), stating that it was followed by a powerful aftershock.
DAILY POST reports that the epicentre was about 17.2 km from the city of Mandalay in Myanmar, which has a population of about 1.5 million.
At the time of filing this report, there was no immediate comment from Myanmar authorities on damage.
“We have started the search and are going around Yangon to check for casualties and damage. So far, we have no information yet,”; an officer from the Myanmar Fire Services Department told reporters.
