Myanmar Quake Toll Reaches 1,644 as Foreign Rescue Teams Arrive

(Bloomberg) -- Myanmar’s death toll from Friday’s powerful earthquake reached 1,644 amid extensive damage in the second-largest city of Mandalay, as international rescue teams arrive to help search for survivors.

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake, Myanmar’s biggest in a century, also injured more than 3,408 people while another 139 are missing, the State Administration Council said late Saturday. Authorities said about 2,300 buildings, including homes and temples collapsed, in Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5 million. 

Teams from China, India and Russia were among those who arrived with professional rescuers, medical personnel and equipment and are heading to Mandalay and the administrative capital Naypyidaw, they said. International airports in the two cities are closed until further notice. 

Countries including the US have pledged to send rescue teams and emergency aid following the junta’s rare request for international help.

“It was a nightmare, I am still scared,” said Kyaw Moe Aung, who witnessed the collapse of a condominium in Mandalay’s Aungmyaythazan township, where he lived. “Hundreds of buildings collapsed here and there” and “there were several aftershocks until late at night,” he said.

Most telephone lines were down due to a day-long power outage in major cities, and residents in the commercial capital of Yangon are limited to a maximum of four hours of electricity a day, according to the Electricity Supply Corporation.

More than 600 monasteries and nearly 300 pagodas in Mandalay were wrecked, as well as 60 schools and three bridges in the region. The quake also damaged some parts of Yangon-Mandalay Expressway and some dams in Upper Myanmar. 

Rescuers in northern Thailand are still searching for dozens of people missing from a collapsed high-rise building in Bangkok. An investigation is underway on the 30-story building that was under construction, and officials will report their findings within a week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.

Authorities in Bangkok said nine people were killed and about 100 are missing. Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said 57 of 77 provinces in the country felt the tremors, while damage has been reported in 13 of them.

The government has declared the quake a level 3 disaster, categorized as major, and is coordinating rescue and relief operations accordingly. 

Bangkok city authorities have also ordered safety audit of public and government buildings, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said. Three hospitals in Bangkok were inspected on Friday night and one of them, Ratwithi Hospital, was instructed not to use the building due to damage from the earthquake, according to authorities. 

There have been 6,000 reported cases of cracks in buildings across the capital, Chadchart said. Two cases involving residential buildings are considered critical, and tenants have been informed about safety measures, he said.

Authorities in the Thai capital also opened 11 temporary shelters to accommodate people affected by the quake. The government will provide assistance and financial relief to those affected, Paetongtarn said after a meeting on Saturday.

Some rail services operated by Bangkok Expressway and Metro will remain closed on Saturday to ensure safety before resuming service, according to local broadcaster PPTV.

Thailand’s stock and futures exchanges halted trading on Friday because of evacuations triggered by the earthquake. The stock exchange said all activities at its headquarters will be halted through Tuesday, though it is not immediately clear if it means exchanges won’t resume trading.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said businesses have resumed operations, and tourist attractions, as well as various convention centers, are open as usual. However, periodic assessments will continue to be conducted to ensure maximum safety, it said in a post on X.

Siam Piwat, owner and operator of several shopping malls in downtown Bangkok, said its buildings are structurally safe and will resume operations on Saturday, according to a statement posted on Facebook.

Thailand is also a major manufacturing hub, although firms like Samsung Electronics Co. said there was no disruption to their operations there.

(Updates with latest death)

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