People stand outside an office building in Bangkok on March 28, 2025 after an earthquake. Agence France-Presse
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — A powerful earthquake killed more than 20 people across Myanmar and Thailand on Friday, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar, and was followed minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
The quake’s devastation prompted a rare request for international aid from Myanmar’s isolated military junta, which has lost swathes of territory to armed groups. A state of emergency was declared across the six worst-affected regions.
LIVE UPDATES: Magnitude 7.7 Myanmar-Thailand earthquake
“About 20 people” were confirmed dead at a hospital in Naypyidaw, a doctor told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Across the border in Thailand, three people were confirmed dead in the collapse of a skyscraper, with 81 more missing and believed trapped in the twisted metal and rubble of the under-construction building.
Myanmar looked to have borne the brunt of the quake, with hundreds of casualties flooding a hospital in the capital Naypyidaw. The emergency department’s entrance had collapsed onto a car, with medics treating patients outside.
IN PHOTOS: Massive earthquake hits Myanmar, Thailand
A hospital official ushered journalists away, saying: “this is a mass casualty area.”
“I haven’t seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle the situation. I’m so exhausted now,” a doctor told AFP.
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Earthquake victims lie on the ground of the compound of a hospital in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. Agence France-Presse
AFP reporters saw junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrive at the hospital as the ruling military called for foreign help.
“We want the international community to give humanitarian aid as soon as possible,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP at the hospital.
The rare plea from the junta raises the prospect that damage and casualties may be on a large scale, with Myanmar’s medical system and infrastructure ravaged by four years of civil war.
READ: Myanmar junta asks for international aid after quake
Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the ancient capital Bagan in central Myanmar killed three people in 2016, also toppling spires and crumbling temple walls at the tourist destination.
First posted 6:45 pm