A devastating earthquake has hit Asia.
The 7.7 magnitude quake—followed by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock—struck the heat of Myanmar March 28, with reverberations felt across its neighbor, Thailand.
According to NBC News, at least three people have died in both Myanmar and Thailand, however numbers remain unconfirmed and are expected to significantly rise as more information is shared.
The earthquake struck at 1:30 p.m. local time, per NBC News, citing the U.S. Geological Survey, at a depth of 6 miles near Mandalay, one of Myanmar’s largest cities. The aftershock occurred 11 minutes later.
An official from the United Nations Office on Humanitarian Affairs shared with NBC News that initial reports from Myanmar indicate the center of the country was hit the hardest, with significant damage across the region.
In Thailand’s capital Bangkok, an under-construction high rise—standing at 33 stories—and located near the city’s popular Chatuchak marked has collapsed amid the quake. At least three people died in the collapse, however, per NBC News, Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said more than 80 other individuals remain trapped in the rubble.
Footage of the building’s collapse—which was verified by NBC News—captured the terrifying moment, showing construction workers fleeing the building as it collapsed in a field of smoke. Other videos shared showed damage to roads, passengers evacuating Bangkok’s Skytrain as well as water spilling out of rooftop pools.
Bangkok—which is home to 17 million people, many of them living in high-rise buildings—has been declared a disaster zone after the earthquake forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes and workplaces, according to NBC News.
A tourist from Scotland by the name of Fraser Morton, who was in a Bangkok mall at the time of the quake, told the Associated Press, “All of a sudden the whole building began to move. Immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic.”
“I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense,” he added. “Lots of chaos.”
Officials reportedly instructed Bangkok residents to stay outdoors in the hours following the quake due to the possibility of ongoing aftershocks.
The earthquake is the biggest to strike Myanmar—where a civil war has been raging for years—in almost 75 years, according to professor of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London Bill McGuire, per NBC News.
“A combination of size and very shallow depth will maximize the chances of damage,” he said. “It is highly likely that build quality will generally not be high enough to survive this level of shaking, and casualty numbers will almost certainly climb significantly as more becomes known of the scale of the disaster.”
