What we know so far
It has gone 3.15pm in Mandalay, Myanmar, and 3.45pm in Bangkok, Thailand. Here is what we know so far about Friday’s huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and its devastating effects:
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The death toll in Myanmar has reached more than 1,000, as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. The ruling junta said in a statement on Saturday 1,002 people had been confirmed dead and 2,376 injured, with most of the dead in Mandalay. The statement suggested the numbers could still rise, saying “detailed figures are still being collected.”
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The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock. The quake destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with severe damage reported in the second biggest city, Mandalay.
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Myanmar declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, and at one major hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, medics were forced to treat the wounded in the open air.
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In neighbouring Thailand, which also felt tremors, Bangkok city authorities said so far six people had been found dead, 26 injured and 47 were still missing, most from a construction site near the capital’s popular Chatuchak market, where a high-rise building collapsed. Earlier statements had said 10 were confirmed dead and about 100 missing.
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Bangkok city authorities said they will deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety after receiving over 2,000 reports of damage.
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It was the biggest quake to hit Myanmar in over a century, according to US geologists, and the tremors were powerful enough to severely damage buildings across Bangkok, hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from the epicentre.
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In Myanmar, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Previous military regimes have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
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The United Nations allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.
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A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken to Min Aung Hlaing, the Chinese embassy said, while state media reported he had “expressed deep sorrow” over the destruction.
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Russia’s emergencies ministry have dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies to the region, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.
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India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the WHO said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies. India said it had sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
Key events
Nicola Davis
While many people have heard of the Richter scale to measure the size of an earthquake, the current standard is the moment magnitude scale.
“The Richter scale is an old scale developed for California. It is only good for smaller quakes, and is not very good at differentiating the sizes of bigger shocks,” said Bill McGuire, emeritus professor of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London.
As the USGS website notes, the moment magnitude calculation is based on the strength of the rock where the slip occurred, the area of the fault that slipped, and the distance the fault moved.
“Thus, stronger rock material, or a larger area, or more movement in an earthquake, will all contribute to produce a larger magnitude,” it adds.
However, like the Richter scale, the moment magnitude scale is logarithmic, meaning that as the magnitude increases by one unit, the degree of ground shaking involved increases 10-fold.
“This is a major quake by any standard, and its impact is made far worse by the fact that it was very shallow – only about 10km down. If it had been 100km deep, the impact would have been much smaller, so depth as well as size is critical,” said McGuire.
But, he added, measurements do vary dependent on the locations of the seismic arrays used.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center the Myanmar earthquake reached 7.9 magnitude, with tremors felt in China’s south-west Yunnan province.
Explainer: What caused Myanmar and Thailand earthquake
Nicola Davis
Earthquakes arise when huge slabs of rock that make up the Earth’s crust, known as tectonic plates, move against each other. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Myanmar quake occurred as the result of “strike slip faulting” between the India and Eurasia plates – meaning that these two tectonic plates rubbed sideways against each other.
“The quake happened on the Sagaing fault, which marks the tectonic plate boundary between the Indian plate to the west and the Eurasian plate to the east. The Indian plate is moving north along the fault compared to the Eurasian plate,” said Bill McGuire, emeritus professor of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London.
The USGS says the region has experience several similar large strike slip earthquakes in the past, with six occurring within about 250km of the current earthquake since 1900 that were magnitude 7 or greater.
“This is a major quake by any standard, and its impact is made far worse by the fact that it was very shallow – only about 10km down. If it had been 100km deep, the impact would have been much smaller, so depth as well as size is critical,” said McGuire.
UK for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency’s national partner for the UK, has launched an emergency appeal to help those affected by the earthquake in Myanmar.
“People who have already lost so much are now facing another disaster and more suffering,” said Mark Hopkinson, UK for UNHCR’s fundraising director. “The need for support has never been more urgent.”
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Mandalay on Friday, and was followed by an aftershock of 6.4 magnitude soon after. Several buildings have collapsed in Mandalay, roads are damaged, and six regions in Myanmar have declared a state of emergency.
In a statement, UK for UNHCR, highlighted the situation:
Myanmar is home to 3.6 million internally displaced people, many of whom were already struggling due to ongoing conflict. The areas worst hit by the earthquake-central and northwest Myanmar- are home to 1.6 million displaced people.
The earthquake’s tremors were also felt in Thailand, including in areas where over 80,000 refugees from Myanmar live in temporary shelters along the border.”
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Friday’s eartquake was the biggest to hit Myanmar in more than a century, according to US geologists, and the tremors were powerful enough to severely damage buildings across Bangkok, hundreds of miles away from the epicentre.
Bangkok city authorities said more than 100 engineers will inspect the city’s buildings, after it received more than 2,000 reports of damage.
While there was no widespread destruction, the shaking brought some dramatic images of rooftop swimming pools sloshing their contents down the side of many of the city’s towering apartment blocks. Hospitals, hotels, offices and high-rise condos were all evacuated.
One woman delivered her baby outdoors after being moved from a hospital building, while a surgeon also continued to operate on a patient after evacuating, a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
But the worst of the damage was in Myanmar, where four years of civil war sparked by a military coup have left healthcare services severely overstretched.
King Charles has sent a message of condolence after the deadly earthquake in Myanmar, as he continues to work while recuperating after his short stay in hospital, reports the PA news agency.
In a message addressed to “the people of Myanmar” and posted on social media, King Charles said:
My wife and I were most dreadfully shocked and saddened to learn of the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, with its tragic loss of life and appalling damage to homes, buildings and livelihoods, not to mention the destruction of sacred pagodas, monasteries and other places of worship.
I know that the people of Myanmar continue to endure so much hardship and tragedy in your lives, and I have long admired your extraordinary resilience and spirit.
At this most difficult and heartbreaking of times, my wife and I send our deepest possible sympathy to all those who have suffered the profound tragedy of losing their loved ones, their homes and their precious livelihoods.”
Widespread power cuts have hampered rescue efforts in Myanmar, with emergency personnel relying on portable generators for power, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
After more than 24 hours of desperate searching, many are exhausted and desperate for relief. “We have been here since last night. We haven’t got any sleep. More help is needed here,” a rescue worker told AFP.
New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters wrote on X that his government would support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross movement”.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters said on Saturday, reports the Associated Press (AP).
New Zealand’s foreign ministry said all embassy staff in Yangon and Bangkok were accounted for and no New Zealanders had been reported hurt or killed.
Hong Kong will send a rescue team to Myanmar, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The city’s chief executive, John Lee, also extended his condolences to the earthquake victims in a Facebook post on Saturday
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s national fire agency said a rescue team of 120 people was on standby for possible deployment. The team included rescue personnel, doctors, nurses, a vet, six search-and-rescue dogs and 15 tons of equipment, reports the AP.
There are also some more images from Myanmar and Thailand, collated by the Guardian’s picture desk, at this link:
Here are some images coming in via the newswires today:
