March 28 (UPI) -- At least 154 people died in a powerful, 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar on Friday and caused widespread damage in neighboring Thailand and southwestern China.
In Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, 144 were killed and 732 injured. So far, 10 fatalities have been reported in Thailand, and the death toll is certain to rise after a skyscraper under construction in Bangkok was toppled and workers are missing.
It is the worst earthquake to strike Myanmar, a poor nation of 54.13 million, since 1912, when 7.9-magnitude quake hit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. In 1991, a 7.0-magnitude quake hit about 100 miles north of the one Friday, according to CNN.
In 2023, in Turkey, an earthquake killed more than 50,000 people.
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"I think it would take even months and maybe some years, because the infrastructure is damaged," Dr. Kyi Minn, national director of World Vision Myanmar, told CNN.
"The highway is damaged, the airport is damaged. So, we are finding a way how to get there. It will need a special way to go there. So, yeah, for the rehabilitation is quite, quite difficult."
The epicenter Friday was 10 miles northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck at 12:52 p.m. local time.
Two tectonic plates that moved side by side, called a strike-slip fault, triggered the earthquake, according to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
"The India and Eurasia plate actually moved side by side with each other, and that caused this intense shaking right at the surface," he said.
"We're talking about violent to severe shaking for millions of people across Myanmar, several millions. We're talking about near 90 million people felt at least light shaking from this."
The BBC reported 81 construction workers are missing after an unfinished high-rise building collapsed hundreds of miles away in Bangkok, according to Thailand's deputy prime minister.
At least seven people died at the site in Thailand, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
In Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, a rescuer told the BBC the damage is "enormous."
The main tremor struck close to the Irrawaddy River in Sagaing Region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, just west of Mandalay, a city of more than 1.7 million, followed 11 minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock 20 miles away to the south in Mandalay Region.
Two further 4.6-magnitude shocks were recorded minutes apart an hour later. All the quakes were along the Sagaing Fault, a major, 750-mile north-south fault that runs virtually the entire length of Myanmar.
In Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, Soe Lwin said he felt the first earthquake for a "long time" and said residents are worried about the potential for more aftershocks. Yangon has a population of 5.9 million people.
The World Health Organization said damage is "enormous," and its logistics hub has been activated for trauma supplies.
The country's military government declared an "emergency situation" covering large areas of central Myanmar, including Mandalay and Naypyidaw, the city the junta re-designated as the capital to replace the British colonial-era capital, Yangon.
The state of emergency was also in place in the Sagaing, Bago and Magway regions and eastern Shan state, scene of fierce fighting between ethnic Shan rebels and the junta after it ignited a civil war in 2021 by overthrowing the country's democratically elected National Unity Government in a military coup.
Myamar's junta made a rare appeal for international assistance.
"This earthquake could not come at a worse time for Myanmar," Amnesty International said. "More than 3 million people remain internally displaced from armed conflict that has raged since the 2021 military coup,"
U.S. President Donald Trump said "we're going to be helping. ... We've already spoken with the country."
About $52 million from the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, to Myanmar has been cut under the Trump administration, according to a new analysis from the think tank Center for Global Development. In 2024, the United States contributed $128.6 million in humanitarian aid.
The United States provided an additional $111 million in nonhumanitarian foreign assistance, including for governance, health, agriculture and education, according to Reliefweb.
The quake in Myanmar comes at a time when the country is very poorly placed to deal with a disaster, as it already is mired in deep crisis due to ongoing civil war that has forced huge numbers of people to flee their homes and left more than 3 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The agency said in an update Friday that the number of people in need would rise to just short of 20 million in 2025, out of a population of 57 million, due to worsening humanitarian conditions amid an escalation in the fighting, particularly in the northwest of the country, and increasing repression by the military government.
OCHA warned that with its 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to help 5.5 million people just 4.9% funded, humanitarian organizations were struggling to continue to deliver lifesaving assistance.
It said increased funding and sustained access were urgently needed to reach those most in need.
Heavy damage was reported in Thailand, a nation of 72.7 million people.
The office of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a post on X that airports, hospitals, and transport had been placed on standby and security forces mobilized with police officers evacuating people from unsafe buildings, aiding victims and managing traffic.
"Citizens are urged to avoid high-rises," the office said.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt ordered the immediate establishment of an earthquake response command center.
The BBC's Bui Thu in Bangkok said she was at home cooking when the initial quake happened.
"I was very nervous, I was very panicked," she said.
The quake also rocked China's Yunan Province with the China Geological Survey, the country's counterpart to the USGS in Beijing, saying the main shock registered at a higher magnitude of 7.9, according to its instruments.
The province has a population of 47 million people.
