Powerful earthquakes rock Thailand and Myanmar, triggering collapse of Bangkok high-rise

Bangkok: A high-rise building under construction in Bangkok collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar midday on Friday, police said, 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.

The midday temblor was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock and people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more.

"All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic," said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok's many malls shopping for camera equipment.

¿I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.¿

Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park -- away from the tall buildings all around.

"I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense," he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany's GFZ centre for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), with an epicentre in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.

In Mandalay, the country's second-largest city and close to the epicentre, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.

While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated and most houses are low-rise structures.

In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.

Residents in Yangon rushed out of their homes when the quake struck. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground and some homes.

In Bangkok, alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1:30 pm and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise condominiums and hotels.

The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.

Water from high-rise rooftop pools sloshed over the side as they shook and debris fell from many buildings as the long-lasting earthquake rattled the city.

"I have experienced earthquakes twice before in Myanmar, but that was only one second, one big bang, but here it went on for at least, I'd say, a minute," said Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs, a Hungarian resident of Bangkok, who had just finished eating at a restaurant when the quake hit.

"My husband was in a high-rise, I think that's even worse."

Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention said the quake was felt in almost all regions of the country.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake.