Aljazeera
[Source: Aljazeera]
Magnitude 7.7 and 6.4 earthquakes have struck Myanmar, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), with strong tremors causing destruction in Thailand and felt elsewhere in the region.
The first tremor hit 16km (10 miles) northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10km (6 miles) at about 12:50pm (06:20 GMT) on Friday, USGS said.
The AFP news agency reported from Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw that roads were buckled by the force of the tremors and chunks of ceilings fell from buildings.
An officer from the Myanmar Fire Services Department told the Reuters news agency: “We have started the search and going around Yangon to check for casualties and damage. So far, we have no information yet.”
Social media posts from Mandalay, Myanmar’s ancient royal capital that is at the centre of its Buddhist heartland, showed collapsed buildings and debris strewn across streets of the city.
One witness in the city told Reuters: “We all ran out of the house as everything started shaking. I witnessed a five-storey building collapse in front of my eyes. Everyone in my town is out on the road and no one dares to go back inside buildings.”
Another witness in the city, Htet Naing Oo, told Reuters that a tea shop had collapsed with several people trapped inside. “We couldn’t go in,” she said. “The situation is very bad.”
A third witness said a mosque in the city was badly damaged.
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