The death toll from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar jumped to more than 1,000 as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the scores of buildings that collapsed when it struck near the country’s second-largest city.
The country’s military-led government said in a statement yesterday that 1,002 people have now been found dead and another 2,376 injured, with 30 others missing. The statement suggested the numbers could still rise, saying “detailed figures are still being collected”.
Myanmar is in the throes of a prolonged and bloody civil war, which is already responsible for a massive humanitarian crisis. It makes movement around the country both difficult and dangerous, complicating relief efforts and raising fears that the death toll could still rise precipitously.
The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicentre not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks including one measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude.
It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads, caused bridges to collapse and burst a dam.
In the capital Naypyidaw, crews worked yesterday to repair damaged roads, while electricity, phone and Internet services remained down for most of the city.
The earthquake brought down many buildings, including multiple units that housed government civil servants, but that section of the city was blocked off by authorities yesterday.
In neighbouring Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, home to some 17 million people, and other parts of the country.
Bangkok city authorities said so far six people have been found dead, 26 injured and 47 are still missing, most from a construction site near the capital’s popular Chatuchak market.
Yesterday, more heavy equipment was brought in to move the tons of rubble, but hope was fading among friends and family members of the missing that they would be found alive.
“I was praying that that they had survived but when I got here and saw the ruin – where could they be? In which corner? Are they still alive? I am still praying that all six are alive,” said 45-year-old Naruemol Thonglek, sobbing as she awaited news about her partner, who is from Myanmar, and five friends who worked at the site.
“I cannot accept this. When I see this I can’t accept this. A close friend of mine is in there, too,” she said.
Thai authorities said that the quake and aftershocks were felt in most of the country’s provinces. Many places in the north reported damage to residential buildings, hospitals and temples, including in Chiang Mai, but the only casualties were reported in Bangkok
Earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, but relatively common in Myanmar. The country sits on the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.
Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said it appears a 200km section of the fault ruptured for just over a minute, with a slip of up to 5m in places, causing intense ground shaking in an area where most of the population lives in buildings constructed of timber and unreinforced brick masonry.
“When you have a large earthquake in an area where there are over a million people, many of them living in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous,” he said in a statement.
“From initial reports, that seems likely to be the case here.” — AP
