A Brit tourist has relived the traumatic moment the first tremors of the devastating 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit Thailand, sending people “screaming” and running for safety.
Deep tremors struck Myanmar at around 12.50pm local time (6.50am GMT) this morning, causing brutal shockwaves that were so strong they raced out to Thailand, with Bangkok residents engulfed in clouds of dust as buildings were reduced to rubble. Videos posted from the Thai capital showed people and buildings alike swaying in the chaos, with the city metro undergound rail service violently swaying while passengers waiting on a platform clung on for dear life.
Local officials have declared an emergency, with disaster centres set up as people crowded on city streets in a bid to escape falling debris. Among those trying to stay safe in the chaos is Brit tourist Fraser Morton, who was in a Bangkok shopping mall when the earthquake struck.
Mr Morton, from Scotland, said he was shopping for camera equipment when the building he was in “started to move” and screaming rang out across the city. He recalled the “banging and crashing” in the mall and the scenes of people running for safety.
He 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.”
Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park – away from the tall buildings all around. He continued: “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.”
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Dozens of people are reportedly missing across Thailand following the outburst of initial tremors, and 10 monks died in Myanmar when a mosque collapsed. Dramatic videos show buildings being levelled and reduced to rubble while coughing out dust. One clip posted on social media showed a multi-story building with a crane on top folding while onlookers screamed and ran.
Bangkok police say a high-rise building under construction collapsed when an 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Thai capital on Friday, and possible casualties are not yet known.
Police told The Associated Press they were responding to the scene near Bangkok’s popular Chatuchak Market, and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse.
The US Geological Survey and Germany’s GFZ centre for geosciences said the incident was at a shallow 6.2 miles, with an epicentre in neighbouring Myanmar, according to preliminary reports. A second quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, shook the area 12 minutes later.
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