Myanmar and Thailand earthquake live: race to find survivors as huge rise in death toll confirmed

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An Indian aid flight landed in Myanmar on Saturday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a C-130 military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials.

“A search and rescue team and medical team is also accompanying this flight,” he added. “We will continue to monitor the developments and more aid will follow.”

More than 90 people could be trapped inside the crushed remains of an apartment block in Mandalay in central Myanmar destroyed by a devastating earthquake, a Red Cross official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday as rescuers worked to free the victims.

The Sky Villa condominium development is among the buildings in Mandalay that were worst hit by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, with several of its 12 storeys flattened one on top of the other.

“Nine people are dead and 44 have been extracted alive,” the Red Cross official at the scene told AFP, requesting anonymity. They added:

More than 90 people could be inside. We are still collecting data as people keep informing us they are looking for their missing family members.”

According to AFP, rescuers clambered over the ruins painstakingly removing pieces of rubble and wreckage by hand as they sought to open up passageways to those trapped inside.

The quake has killed more than 1,000 people in Myanmar but communications are badly disrupted and the true scale of the disaster is only beginning to emerge.

China to provide Myanmar with $13.8 million in quake aid, embassy says

China will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.77m) worth of aid after an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people, its embassy said on Saturday.

The aid will include tents, blankets, emergency medical kits, food and water and other essential items, with the first batch arriving 31 March, according to the Chinese embassy’s Facebook page, reports Reuters.

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:

• 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.”

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Bangkok city authorities said they will deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety after receiving over 2,000 reports of damage.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

The south-east Asian bloc Asean recognises the urgent need for humanitarian assistance for Myanmar after a major earthquake and is ready to support recovery efforts, its foreign ministers said on Saturday, reports Reuters.

“Asean affirms its solidarity and will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure timely and effective humanitarian response,” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

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.

India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the World Health Organization said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies.

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 and said China was “willing to provide Myanmar the needed assistance to support people in affected areas”.

According to Agence France-Pesse (AFP), guards at Mandalay airport have turned away journalists.

“It has been closed since yesterday,” a guard told an AFP reporter. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was hurt.”

Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.

In Mandalay, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists saw a centuries-old Buddhist pagoda that had been reduced to rubble by the quake.

“It started shaking, then it started getting serious,” said a soldier at a checkpoint on the road outside the pagoda. “The monastery also collapsed. One monk died. Some people were injured, we pulled out some people and took them to the hospital.”

The head of the main Buddha statue in the monastery fell off and was placed on the platform at its feet.

“Everyone at the monastery dares not sleep inside, as we heard there could be another earthquake. I have never felt anything like this in my life,” the soldier told AFP.

Experts say Myanmar’s devastating earthquake was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modelling suggesting thousands could be dead, Agence France-Presse is reporting.

Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake north-west of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.

“High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people.

A rescuer carries equipment as a team searches through the rubble of a destroyed building looking for survivors in Mandalay on Saturday. Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images

Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had passed 1,000, with more than 2,000 injured.

However, the USGS analysis said there was a 35% chance that possible fatalities could be in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 people.

The USGS offered a similar likelihood that the financial damage could total tens of thousands of millions of dollars, warning that it might exceed the GDP of Myanmar.

Weak infrastructure will complicate relief efforts in the isolated, military-ruled state, where rescue services and the healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.

Patients evacuated from a Bangkok hospital have been taken to a nearby sports hall where hospital beds are lined up beneath basketball hoops and beside football goals.

Agence France-Presse reports that when powerful tremors from Myanmar’s earthquake and aftershock shook the Thai capital on Friday afternoon, patients at Rajavithi hospital were rushed out of the building, some helped down stairs to nearby makeshift shelters, including to the hospital’s canteen and sports hall.

One patient, being treated for leukaemia, said she was moved from her private room to a hall in the hospital, walking down multiple flights of stairs aided by nurses.

I need to receive my blood platelets soon, and the hospital is currently checking which other hospital can provide the treatment.

Some patients were later moved back inside, while others were transferred to different hospitals this morning, a hospital staff member said.

On Saturday, around 30 patients were in the hall, where hospital staff provided basic medical care including blood transfusions.

Patients are evacuated from Rajavithi hospital in Bangkok on Friday after the quake. Photograph: Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

Control tower collapse at Naypyitaw airport kills six – report

The main airport in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw has been closed after Friday’s earthquake caused its air traffic control tower to collapse, killing at least six people, according to a news report.

The independent outlet Myanmar Now also said there were reports of extensive damage to aviation equipment.

It reported a source as saying that an air traffic controller, three female assistants, the son of one of the assistants and a military intelligence officer were confirmed dead following the collapse of the tower.

The report could not be independently verified.

It also cited an aviation officer at Yangon’s international airport as saying the radar systems at the airports in Naypyitaw and Mandalay were no longer operating.

Vehicles make their way near a quake-damaged road in Naypyitaw. Photograph: Aung Shine Oo/AP

The south-east Asian bloc Asean says it is ready to support quake recovery efforts in Myanmar and Thailand and recognises the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.

Foreign ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a joint statement on Saturday that the bloc “reaffirms its solidarity with the families and communities affected by the earthquake”.

They also said Asean “will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure timely and effective humanitarian response”.

China and Russia are the largest suppliers of weapons to Myanmar’s military and were among the first to step in with humanitarian aid.

The Associated Press reports that 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, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia’s emergencies ministry dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.

India 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.

Rescue workers rest next to a damaged building in Mandalay on Saturday as efforts continue to look for quake survivors. Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty Images

The UN allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said 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.

The Trump administration’s cuts to the US Agency for International Development have already forced the UN and non-governmental organisations to cut many programs in Myanmar.

In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, Agence France-Presse journalists saw a centuries-old Buddhist pagoda that had been reduced to rubble by the quake.

“It started shaking, then it started getting serious,” a soldier said at a checkpoint on the road outside the pagoda.

The monastery also collapsed. One monk died. Some people were injured, we pulled out some people and took them to the hospital.

The head of the main Buddha statue in the monastery fell off and was placed on the platform at its feet.

“Everyone at the monastery dares not sleep inside, as we heard there could be another earthquake,” the soldier said. “I have never felt anything like this in my life.

The collapsed Maha Myat Muni pagoda in Mandalay after the quake. Photograph: EPA

Guards at Mandalay airport turned away journalists, the AFP report said.

“It has been closed since yesterday,” one said. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was hurt.”

Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by the military coup in 2021.

Myanmar’s state-run MRTV is saying the death toll from Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake has climbed to 1,002.

It said 2,376 people were injured and 30 missing, Reuters reports.

South Korea will provide $2m to Myanmar in humanitarian aid through international organisations in initial assistance to help the country respond to Friday’s earthquake, Reuters quotes its foreign ministry as saying on Saturday.

In Bangkok, where a skyscraper under construction came crashing down near the popular Chatuchak market, more heavy equipment was brought in on Saturday to move the tons of rubble but hope was fading among friends and family members of the missing that they will be found alive, the Associated Press reports.

“I was praying that that they had survived but when I got here and saw the ruin – where could they be? In which corner? Are they still alive?” said 45-year-old Naruemol Thonglek, sobbing as she awaited news about her partner, who is from Myanmar, and five friends who worked at the site.

I am still praying that all six are alive.

I cannot accept this. When I see this I can’t accept this. A close friend of mine is in there, too.

Rescuers resume operations on Saturday at the Chatuchak site of a high-rise collapse in Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Mailee Osten-Tan/Getty Images

Quake toll passes 1,000 – report

The Myanmar quake toll has topped 1,000, Agence France-Presse is reporting, citing the country’s military junta.

Opening summary

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the earthquake that devastated Myanmar and caused the deadly collapse of a high-rise building in Bangkok on Friday.

The Myanmar junta on Saturday said almost 700 people had died in the quake. The country’s second biggest city, Mandalay, is believed to have been especially hard hit, with images showing widespread destruction.

Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar’s junta, said on Friday he expected the death toll to rise and urged “any country, any organisation” to help with relief efforts – a rare request from the isolated military government, which has previously shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.

A collapsed building in Mandalay. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The junta said blood was in high demand in the worst-affected areas as concerns grew about how rescuers would even reach some parts of a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.

In neighbouring Thailand, search and rescue efforts continued for up to 101 people reported missing from construction sites in Bangkok, including the high-rise.

Authorities on Saturday said six people had been confirmed dead and 22 injured, revising down the death toll of 10 from the previous day, saying several critically injured people were mistakenly reported dead.

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said more people were believed to be alive in the wreckage as search efforts continued on Saturday morning.

We’ll bring you more updates as we have them.