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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Violent earthquakes rock Southeast Asia

Violent earthquakes rock Southeast Asia

Bangkok police say high-rise building under construction collapsed in earthquake; possible casualties not yet known.

Published Mar 28, 2025 07:22 am

QUAKE PHOTO.jpg

People who evacuated from buildings following earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chutima Lalit)

 


BANGKOK (AP) — Bangkok police said 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.

Two violent earthquakes rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, causing buildings in the Thai capital Bangkok to sway and prompting evacuations across the city, as well as in neighboring Myanmar.

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 Prevention said the quake was felt in almost 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.

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