At least 694 dead, 1,670 injured after powerful earthquake in Myanmar

A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar on Friday, March 28, causing extensive damage across a wide swath of one of the world’s poorest countries and prompting officials to warn that the initial death toll was updated to 694 dead, 1,670 injured, according to the junta on Saturday.

In Thailand, authorities in Bangkok said six people were killed, 22 were injured and 101 were missing from three construction sites, including the high-rise. 

They revised the death toll Saturday morning from 10 reported the previous day, saying several critically injured people were mistakenly reported dead. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said that more people were believed to be alive in the wreckage as search efforts continued Saturday morning.

The 7.7 magnitude quake struck at midday, with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. Aftershocks followed, one of them measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude. Myanmar is in an active earthquake belt, though many of the temblors happen in sparsely populated areas, not cities like those affected Friday. 

The US Geological Survey, an American government science agency, estimated that the death toll could top 1,000.

In Mandalay, the earthquake reportedly brought down multiple buildings, including one of the city’s largest monasteries. 

Photos from the capital city of Naypyidaw showed rescue crews pulling victims from the rubble of multiple buildings used to house civil servants.

Source: Lemonde
--Agencies