A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake has jolted central Myanmar on Friday afternoon local time.
The quake struck 16 kilometers (10 miles) north northwest of the town of Sagaing, Myanmar around 12:50 p.m. local time, the United States Geological Survey reported.
An aftershock of 6.4-magnitude struck the region around 12 minutes after the initial quake.
Meanwhile, the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said the jolt measured magnitude 7.9, according to the Xinhua news agency, with a social media post by CENC saying “tremors were felt in Yunnan.”
Reports from Myamar’s capital, Naypyidaw, say that roads were buckled by the force of the tremors and chunks of ceilings fell from buildings.
In neighbouring Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, startled residents poured out of high-rise buildings. Witnesses said the tremors were forceful enough to send water sloshing out of pools.
There are reports of people being stuck under the rubble of a collapsed building under construction in the Chatuchak area of Bangkok.
Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the center of the country, according to the United States Geological Survey.
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