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A powerful earthquake centred in Myanmar rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, killing several people and causing extensive damage, with rescuers in Bangkok searching for 81 people in the rubble of a collapsed building.
At least three people were killed in the town of Taungoo in Myanmar when a mosque partially collapsed, witnesses said, while local media reported that at least two people died and 20 were injured after a hotel collapsed in Aung Ban.
In Thailand, the defence minister said rescuers were searching for 81 people trapped in the rubble of a skyscraper that was under construction and collapsed into a pile of rubble.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said there had been three deaths at the building site. He warned of possible aftershocks but urged people to be calm and said the situation was largely under control.
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). The epicentre was about 17 km from the Myanmar city of Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5 million.
In the Thai capital, 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, witnesses said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand suspended all trading activities for the Friday afternoon session.
One office tower in downtown Bangkok swayed from side to side for at least two minutes, with doors and windows creaking loudly, witnesses said.
"At first, I didn’t realise (it was an earthquake)," office worker on Varunyou Armarttayakul told Reuters. "But then I saw the table shaking, and the chair and computer started swaying, too. I only knew for sure when I heard the noise of the cracking walls and cracking glass. Part of the ceiling even collapsed — that’s when I had to run out.” China's Xinhua news agency said strong tremors were felt in southwestern Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, but there were no reports of casualties.