Naypyidaw: A huge earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand on Friday, killing more than 150 people and injuring hundreds, with dozens trapped in collapsed buildings and the death toll expected to rise.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon and was followed minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
The embassy of Oman in Thai capital Bangkok said no Omanis were injured in the incident. The embassy called on Omani citizens to exercise caution and adhere to the instructions of local authorities. They may call the embassy's emergency number 66638871775 in case of assistance.
The quake flattened buildings, downed bridges and cracked roads across swathes of Myanmar and even demolished a 30-storey skyscraper under construction hundreds of km away in Bangkok.
While the full extent of the catastrophe is yet to emerge, the leader of isolated Myanmar, in the grip of a civil war, issued a rare plea for international aid.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said 144 people had been killed, with 732 confirmed injured, but warned the toll was "likely to rise". Eight deaths have been confirmed so far in Thailand, with more expected.
"In some places, some buildings collapsed," he said in a televised speech, after visiting a hospital in the capital Naypyidaw.
"I would like to invite any country, any organisation, or anyone in Myanmar to come and help. Thank you."
He urged massive relief efforts in the wake of the disaster and said he had "opened all ways for foreign aid".
The country declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, which the World Health Organization described as a "very, very big threat to life and health".
Hundreds of casualties arrived at a major hospital in Naypyidaw, where the emergency department entrance had collapsed on a car.
An official at the hospital, the same one visited by the junta chief, described it as a "mass casualty area" with medics treating the wounded outside.
Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, appeared to have been badly hit.
Across the border in Thailand, a 30-storey skyscraper under construction collapsed to a tangled heap of rubble and dust in a matter of seconds.
Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said eight dead bodies have been recovered and, with between 90 and 110 people unaccounted for, the toll is expected to rise.
"We see several dead bodies under the rubble. We will take time to bring the bodies out to avoid any further collapses," he said.
"I heard people calling for help, saying 'help me'," Worapat Sukthai, deputy police chief of Bang Sue district, said. — AFP
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