Another earthquake hits Myanmar amid rescue efforts; over 150 dead, hundreds injured 

Naypyidaw (Myanmar), March 29 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA):- Another earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter Scale, hit Myanmar late on Friday, the National Center for Seismology reported. This comes hours after a powerful 7.7 magnitude quake rattled much of Southeast Asia. More than 150 people were confirmed dead and hundreds were injured after the first earthquake.

Earlier on Friday, the Myanmar military junta declared a state of emergency in six regions after Friday’s devastating earthquake, media reported.

Casualties are expected to rise as search and rescue efforts are underway across Myanmar and Thailand, officials said.

The quake was felt in Bangkok, where at least eight people died and nine were injured after an under-construction high-rise collapsed. Police said that more than 100 people were missing.

After the 7.7 magnitude earthquake, Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra declared Bangkok as an ‘emergency zone’.

PM Shinawatra “immediately instructed the Ministry of Interior to declare Bangkok an emergency zone, and to notify provinces nationwide to treat the situation as a national emergency, enabling immediate public assistance if needed,” according to a statement from his office.

“The Prime Minister is returning to Bangkok immediately and urges the public to avoid high-rise buildings, use stairs only, and remain calm. All government agencies have been briefed, and schools have been instructed to send children home early.”

Earlier on Friday, at least 144 people were killed and 732 injured in Myanmar after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake jolted the country, the Information Team of Myanmar’s State Administration Council reported.

However, the death toll was expected to go higher and could reach 1,000.

Myanmar’s State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that the deaths included 96 from the capital Nay Pyi Taw, 18 from Sagaing and 30 from Kyaukse, according to the report.

The injured included 432 from Nay Pyi Taw and 300 from Sagaing, it added.

Many buildings were damaged, and rescue operations are underway, it said.

Min Aung Hlaing also called for assistance from the international community, the report said.

The 7.7-magnitude quake, with an epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.

The head of Myanmar’s military government said in the televised speech on Friday evening that at least 144 people were killed and 730 others were injured.

“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said.

Photos from the capital of Naypyidaw showed multiple buildings used to house civil servants destroyed by the quake, and rescue crews pulling victims from the rubble.

Myanmar’s government said blood was in high demand in the hardest-hit areas.

Images of buckled and cracked roads in Mandalay and damaged highways as well as the collapse of a bridge and dam raised further concerns about how rescuers would even reach some areas in a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.

The 7.7-magnitude Myanmar earthquake’s epicentre was located in Mandalay, at a depth of 10 kilometre, around 12:50 p.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Multiple aftershocks followed, one of them measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude.

Tremors were also felt throughout northern Thailand and down to Bangkok, where residents fled to the streets as buildings shook. Visuals shared on social media showed a building collapse in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. Due to the tremors, some metro and light rail services were suspended in Thailand’s Bangkok. Jolts of the Myanmar earthquake were also felt in Vietnam.

Tremors were also felt in China’s southwest Yunnan province, with Beijing’s quake agency reporting the jolt as a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where between 1930 and 1956, six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or higher struck near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the USGS.

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