The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 694, with 1,670 others injured, according to the country’s ruling junta on Saturday.
The 7.7-magnitude tremor, which struck Friday near the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar, was shallow in depth and caused widespread devastation across vast regions of the country.
Widespread Devastation
The earthquake caused widespread devastation across Myanmar.
In Mandalay, extensive destruction was seen as several buildings crumbled into heaps of rubble and twisted metal, covered in dust, with people scrambling to carry out rescue efforts.
The Ava Bridge, nearly a century old and spanning the Irrawaddy River from Sagaing, collapsed into the fast-moving waters below.
Myanmar lies on the boundary between two tectonic plates and is one of the world’s most seismically active countries, although large and destructive earthquakes have been relatively rare in the Sagaing region.
“The plate boundary between the India Plate and Eurasia Plate runs approximately north-south, cutting through the middle of the country,” said Joanna Faure Walker, a professor and earthquake expert at University College London.
She said the plates move past each other horizontally at different speeds. While this causes “strike slip” quakes that are normally less powerful than those seen in “subduction zones” like Sumatra, where one plate slides under another, they can still reach magnitudes of 7 to 8.
Aid Pleas
The extent of the destruction led Myanmar’s reclusive military regime to issue an unusual request for international aid.
The junta leader extended an invitation to “any country, any organization” to provide assistance, stating that “all paths for foreign aid are open.”
In response, offers of help poured in, with India being one of the first nations to express its readiness to assist.
Searching For Workers In The Rubble
In the Thai capital Bangkok, 1,000 km (620 miles) from the epicenter, a rescue mission was stepped up on Saturday to find construction workers trapped under the rubble of a collapsed 33-story tower.
“We will do everything, we will not give up on saving lives, we will use all resources,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said at the site, as excavators moved debris and drones scoured the rubble searching for survivors.
The Thai capital ground to a halt on Friday and Chadchart said hundreds of people had spent the night in city parks, but he said the situation was improving.
(With inputs from Reuters)
