PHOTOS: Violent Earthquakes Rock Thailand and Myanmar, 7.7 Magnitude Quake Collapses High-Rise in Bangkok
BANGKOK (AP) — Two violent earthquakes rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, causing buildings in the Thai capital Bangkok to sway and collapse and prompting evacuations across the city, as well as in neighboring Myanmar. Bangkok police say a high-rise building under construction collapsed when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the Thai capital midday on Friday, and possible casualties are not yet known.
A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.
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.
Rescue workers walk past debris of a construction site after a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, following an earthquake. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)
Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Thai rescue teams provide aid at a construction building collapse in Bangkok’s Chatuchak area on March 28, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand, after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar. (Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
Thai rescue workers arrive on scene at a construction building collapse in the Chatuchak area following an earthquake on March 28, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
Rescue workers search for survivors of a building collapse after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 28, 2025. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Myanmar, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), with tremors felt in neighboring Thailand. (Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Rescue teams arrive with a stretcher to evacuate an injured man at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, following an earthquake. (CHANAKARN LAOSARAKHAM/AFP via Getty Images)
People stand past the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
People inspect the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
People weep next to a collapsed building near Chatuchak Market following an earthquake on March 28, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
Traffic in Bangkok, Thailand, during the earthquake, on March 28, 2025. (Varit Soponpis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Patients lie on beds in the compound of Phramongkutklao Hospital in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. (CHANAKARN LAOSARAKHAM/AFP via Getty Images)
The injured are evacuated from the scene of a collapsed building after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 28, 2025. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Myanmar, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), with tremors felt in neighboring Thailand. (Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Earthquake survivors wait to receive medical attention in the compounds of a hospital in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. (SEBASTIEN BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Rescue workers search for survivors of a building collapse after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 28, 2025. (Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
People wait in the open following an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Andre Malerba/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Royal Thai Army takes part in rescue operations following the collapse of the office of auditor general building after strong earthquake of 7.7 magnitude rocks Myanmar as tremors felt in Bangkok, Thailand on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Royal Thai Army X Account/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Patients lie on beds in the compound of Phramongkutklao Hospital in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. (CHANAKARN LAOSARAKHAM/AFP via Getty Images)
Damage is seen to part of the emergency department of a hospital in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. (SEBASTIEN BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)
A car attempts to drive along a damaged road in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. (SEBASTIEN BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)
People take pictures of a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. (LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)
People stand outside an office building in Bangkok on March 28, 2025 after an earthquake. (CANDIDA NG/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the midday temblor was a shallow 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), with an epicenter in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.
A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, shook the area 12 minutes later.
Water from high-rise rooftop pools in Bangkok sloshed over the side as they shook, and debris fell from many buildings.
A video posted on social media right after the quake showed an apartment building under construction collapsing, but it was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity.
There were no immediate reports of casualties and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake.
The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.
Alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1:30 p.m., and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise condominiums and hotels in densely populated central Bangkok.
They remained in the streets, seeking shade from the midday sun in the minutes after the quake.
Thailand’s Department of Disaster Preventaion said the quake was felt in amost all regions of the country.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in central Myanmar, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the city of Monywa.
In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground, and some homes.
Further reports of damage were not immediately available from Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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