Updated at 12:40 pm ET on March 28, 2025.
BANGKOK – Rescuers scrambled to save people buried beneath collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, killing 144 people in the war-torn country — a count that would surely rise.
The magnitude 7.7 quake caused damage hundreds of kilometers away in the Thai capital Bangkok, where an apartment building under construction collapsed and buried workers in rubble. Media reports said at least nine people had died in Bangkok, bringing the combined death toll to more than 150.
The disaster raised concerns about how aid would reach victims in Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a civil war since the military overthrew a civilian government in a 2021 coup. The fighting has driven more than 3 million people from their homes.
“This earthquake could not come at a worse time for Myanmar,” said Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman. “Over a third of the population will need humanitarian assistance this year.
“In a country where the military has banned many media outlets and internet access is restricted, we may not have a clear picture of the extent of damage and loss for some time,” he said.
Myanmar’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said on state-owned MRTV that 144 people had died and more than 700 were injured.
The ruling declared a state of emergency in the affected regions. It said six major areas suffered significant damage – Shan state, Mandalay, Sagaing, Bago, Magway and the administrative capital of Naypyidaw.
Widespread destruction
The quake struck at 12:50 p.m. Myanmar time at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
It was centered about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, which has a population of 1.5 million. It was followed minutes later by an aftershock of magnitude 6.4.
Social media posts from Mandalay showed collapsed buildings and debris strewn across streets. One resident confirmed with RFA that the city’s iconic Ava bridge had collapsed.
In the capital of Naypyidaw, roads were buckled by the force of the tremors and chunks of ceilings fell from buildings, Agence France-Presse reported. Residents told RFA Burmese that many buildings in the area, including monasteries, had been destroyed.
“The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid,” the junta said in a statement.
People trapped under rubble
As evening came, news of deaths and destruction came in from locations around the country.
In Pyinmana, a town just east of the capital, 40 bodies were found in collapsed buildings, residents told RFA Burmese, and more than 130 injured people were sent to nearby hospitals.
A rescue worker said that there are still many people trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town.
“The entire area is destroyed, and we are working tirelessly on rescue operations. We just sent one body to the morgue and are now continuing the search,” he said. “Unfortunately, we can’t assist in other areas. Even in Pyinmana, our efforts are hindered, and we’re unable to go further.”
Landslides have blocked roads, allowing only motorcycles to pass, meaning aid will have a hard time getting through, he said.
In the town of Taungngu, in the central Bago region, 10 residents including five children had died, a rescue worker said. The hospital there was treating at least 30 people for injuries.
A six-story hotel in Shan state’s Aungpan town collapsed, trapping staff and guests in the rubble, a rescue worker said.
“The body of a staff member has been recovered, and we were able to rescue 16 people from the rubble,” said a representative of the Myat Youth Association assisting in the recovery, identifying the victim as a 20-year-old woman. Rescue efforts were continuing, but the exact number of people still trapped was unknown.
“There are cracked and collapsed homes because of the earthquake. The worst is the collapsed hotel in Aungpan –- the guests are completely trapped,” the aid worker said.
Rescue workers and residents said at least 37 people had died in the capital Naypyidaw.
Thailand wreckage
In Bangkok, people fled into the streets when the quake struck around lunchtime, and water sloshed out of swimming pools in high-rise condos, dousing the streets below.
Rescuers were searching for 81 people trapped in the rubble of a building that was under construction and had collapsed, Reuters reported.
Some metro and light rail services were suspended. Major roads were jammed as people tried to leave the city center.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Friday she had interrupted an official visit to the southern island of Phuket to hold an “urgent meeting” after the earthquake, according to a post on X.
China Earthquake Networks Center said that tremors were felt in the Chinese city of Yunnan. The Chinese foreign ministry said it was “closely following” reports.
Myanmar is prone to earthquakes, with six significant tremors of 7.0 magnitude or higher hitting the area between 1930 and 1956 along the Sagaing Fault, which stretches north to south through the center of the country, according to the USGS.
In 2016, a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the ancient capital of Bagan in central Myanmar, killing three people and causing spires to collapse and temple walls to crumble at the popular tourist site.
Stephen Wright reported from Bangkok. RFA Burmese journalists Saw Wunna and Khin Khin Ei reported from Chiang Mai, Thailand. RFA journalists Pimuk Rakkanam and Mike Firn in Bangkok and Kiana Duncan in Mae Sot contributed. Edited by Taejun Kang in Taipei and Malcolm Foster and Mat Pennington in Washington.
Updates death toll, raises context of civil war, adds quotes from Amnesty International.
