More Than 1,000 Dead After Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake Hits Burma

The USGS’s predictive modeling estimated the death toll could exceed 10,000 people and that losses could be greater than the value of the country’s GDP.

People drive on a motorbike past a collapsed building in Mandalay on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Burma. STR/AFP via Getty Images

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Burma after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the country on Friday.

The death toll in Burma (also known as Myanmar) jumped to 1,002 with 2,376 injured and 30 others missing, the military government said in a statement on Saturday, up sharply from the 144 dead that state media reported on Friday.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake—which was 6.2 miles deep—was close to the city of Mandalay in Burma.

A dramatic video circulating on social media shows a high-rise building in Bangkok collapsing in a cloud of dust as construction workers run for their lives. Thai authorities said nine people had died and 101 were missing in Bangkok, mostly laborers trapped in the rubble of the collapsed tower.

The high-rise building was being built for the auditor general of the Thai government by the China Railway Construction Corporation.

The USGS’s predictive modeling estimated the death toll could exceed 10,000 people in Burma, and that losses could be greater than the value of the country’s gross domestic product.

In Burma, the military government has declared a state of emergency in six regions and states, including Mandalay and the capital, Naypyidaw.

It said on the Telegram messaging app, “The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian aid.”

The Red Cross said: “Initial reports from the ground suggest the earthquake has caused significant damage. Information on humanitarian needs is still being gathered.”

Machinery is moved on the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok on March 29, 2025, a day after an earthquake struck central Burma and Thailand. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

The Burmese government’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told state-run MRTV television channel that blood was in high demand in hospitals in Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyidaw.

The president of the European Commission wrote on X: “Heartbreaking scenes from Myanmar and Thailand after the devastating earthquake. My thoughts are with the victims & their families. Europe’s Copernicus satellites are already helping first responders. We are ready to provide more support. We stand with you in full solidarity.”

Chinese media reported that the earthquake was felt in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

Burma’s second biggest city, Mandalay, was close to the epicenter, and a local resident, Htet Naing Oo, said several people had been trapped inside a tea shop which had collapsed.

She said, “We couldn’t go in. The situation is very bad.”

Photographs and videos posted on Facebook showed widespread damage in Mandalay.

Most houses in Mandalay are low-rise structures.

A 90-year-old bridge in the Sagaing region, southwest of Mandalay, collapsed, and the highway connecting Mandalay with Burma’s largest city, Yangon, was also damaged.

In the capital, Naypyidaw, Buddhist shrines were toppled and some homes damaged.

The tremor, which took place around midday on Friday, was followed by an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The greater Bangkok area is home to around 17 million people, many living in high-rise apartments.

Many people have been evacuated from office and residential buildings, pending the all-clear.

‘A Lot of Panic’

Fraser Morton, a British tourist who was in downtown Bangkok shopping for camera equipment, said, “All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic.”

“I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall,” he added.

Morton said, “I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense. Lots of chaos.”

Water from infinity pools in several high-rise hotels can be seen in videos pouring down the sides of the buildings as they shook.

Rescue teams at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

Thousands of residents, workers, and tourists took shelter in the city’s Benjasiri Park, which is away from high buildings.

Thailand’s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, called an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the impact.

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention said the tremor was felt in almost every region of the country.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.