LONDON — An earthquake with a 7.7 magnitude has rocked Southeast Asia on Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
USGS is reporting the epicenter of the quake was in Mandalay, Myanmar, but at least one person was killed and 50 others were injured when a building that was under construction collapsed in Bangkok as the earthquake struck the region on Friday, according to Thailand’s National Institute of Emergency Medicine (NIEM), which said there was an unknown number of people still trapped in the rubble.
A police officer waves ambulances through as they arrive at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. A powerful earthquake rocked central Myanmar on March 28, buckling roads in capital Naypyidaw, damaging buildings and forcing people to flee into the streets in neighboring Thailand.
Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images
NIEM said there were approximately 320 construction workers on site when the building collapsed at 70 people are currently missing, according to a statement published on social media. Approximately 20 workers are still trapped in the elevator shaft with the number of deaths expected to climb, NIEM continued.
Alarms reportedly went off in buildings across the Thai capital city when the earthquake hit around 1:30 p.m., according to the Associated Press.
People gather on a street after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, earthquake monitoring services said, which affected Bangkok as well with hundreds of people pouring out of buildings in the Thai capital in panic after the tremors, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 28, 2025.
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
“We were under the main Sukhumvit railway station and we thought a train had crashed on the initial tremor,” a British citizen who is in the Thai capital on a business trip and wished to remain anonymous told ABC News. “But then as it continued, people started to run outside and the hotels were evacuated to the streets.”
The Royal Thai Police said they are helping to evacuate people from buildings across the city into safe areas, according to a statement published on social media.
Rescue teams are seen at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake. A powerful earthquake rocked central Myanmar on March 28, buckling roads in capital Naypyidaw, damaging buildings and forcing people to flee into the streets in neighboring Thailand.
Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images
A video obtained by ABC News from a WeWork office in Bangkok shows water pouring from a rooftop swimming pool as people ran across the office towards the exits.
Meanwhile, two of Bangkok’s main public transportation systems, the BTS — an elevated train line — and the MRT, which is mostly underground, have stopped service as authorities respond to the earthquake aftermath, Thai police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
