Death toll from earthquake jumps to 153 in Myanmar, Thailand

STR/AFP

An 7.7-magnitude earthquake centered in Myanmar shook southeast Asia on Friday, killing at least 144 people in the country and nine in neighbouring Thailand, as efforts to retrieve people from collapsed buildings continued. 

Myanmar's state media said 144 people have been confirmed dead and 732 were injured. The toll is expected to rise.

Much of the destruction appeared to have taken place in Mandalay.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which struck at lunchtime, was of 7.7 magnitude and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). The epicentre was about 17 km from Mandalay. 

A rescue worker from the Moe Saydanar charity group told Reuters that it had retrieved at least 60 bodies from monasteries and buildings in Pyinmanar, near Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, and more people were trapped.

The quake also hit Thailand, where rescuers in the capital Bangkok were searching in the rubble of a tower block that had been under construction and collapsed. There were 117 people missing and nine dead following the building collapse, according to the rescue operation.

More from International News

  • Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 60 people in 24 hours

    Israeli occupation forces committed multiple massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 60 Palestinians and the injury of 162 others, according to medical reports.

  • Trump fires National Security Agency director

    U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.

  • Israel steps up Syria strikes, says Turkey aims for 'protectorate'

    Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.

  • US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden delayed

    The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.