Over 150 dead as powerful quake rocks Myanmar and Thailand

A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday, destroying buildings, bridges and a monastery.

At least 144 people were killed in Myanmar, where photos and video from two hard-hit cities showed extensive damage.

At least 10 died in the Thai capital, where a high-rise under construction collapsed.

The full extent of death, injury and destruction was not immediately clear - particularly in Myanmar, one of the world's poorest countries. It is embroiled in a civil war, and information is tightly controlled.

"The death toll and injuries are expected to rise," the head of Myanmar's military government, Senior Gen.

Min Aung Hlaing said as he announced on television that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured in his country. In Thailand, Bangkok city authorities said 10 people were killed, 16 injured and 101 missing from three construction sites, including the high-rise.

Patients are evacuated outside a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok. AP

Skyscraper collapse

A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-storey building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.

In Thailand, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters at least three workers had been killed, with 81 more trapped, after the collapse of a building under construction near the sprawling Chatuchak market.

Rescuers were surveying the tangle of rubble and twisted metal for a safe way to search for survivors, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

Rescue personnel work at the site of a building that collapsed after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar and Thailand on Friday. Reuters

"I heard people calling for help, saying 'help me'," Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, told AFP. "We estimate that hundreds of people are injured," he said.

Across Bangkok and the northern tourist destination of Chiang Mai, where the power briefly went out, stunned residents hurried outside, unsure of how to respond to the unusual quake.

Women and a child react after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday. Reuters

"I quickly rushed out of the shop along with other customers," said Sai, 76, who was working at a minimart in Chiang Mai when the shop started to shake. "This is the strongest tremor I've experienced in my life."

Police told The Associated Press they were responding to the scene near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse.

Cars pass a damaged road in Naypyidaw. AFP

The midday temblor was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock, and people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more.

"All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok's many malls shopping for camera equipment.

Workers carry an injured person near the site of a collapsed building after the strong earthquake. Reuters

"I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.”

'The whole building was moving'

Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park – away from the tall buildings all around.

"I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” he said. "Lots of chaos.”

An injured man reacts after the earthquake. Reuters

The US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ centre for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), with an epicentre in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.

In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicentre, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.

90-year-old bridge collapses

While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated, and most houses are low-rise structures.

Damaged pagodas are seen after the earthquake on Friday in Naypyitaw. AP

In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.

Residents in Yangon rushed out of their homes when the quake struck. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

Shrines damaged

In the capital Naypyidaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.

In Bangkok, alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1:30pm, and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise condominiums and hotels.

The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.

Water from high-rise rooftop pools sloshed over the side as they shook, and debris fell from many buildings as the long-lasting earthquake rattled the city.

People look on next to a collapsed building in Mandalay, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. AFP

"I have experienced earthquakes twice before in Myanmar, but that was only one second, one big bang, but here it went on for at least, I’d say, a minute,” said Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs, a Hungarian resident of Bangkok, who had just finished eating at a restaurant when the quake hit.

A casualty lies on the ground as people assist him. Reuters

"My husband was in a high-rise, I think that’s even worse.”

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said the quake was felt in almost all regions of the country.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake.

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.

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.

Agencies