Myanmar earthquake death toll soars over 1,000 as Thailand searches for trapped workers

Addis Ababa, March 29, 2025 (FMC) — The death toll from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar jumped to over 1,000 on Saturday.

In neighbouring Thailand, at least nine were killed and up to 100 workers still unaccounted for after a Bangkok, Thailand’s capital skyscraper under construction collapsed.

Foreign rescue teams began flying into Myanmar today to aid the search for survivors from an earthquake that killed more than thousands people in the Southeast Asian nation.

At least 1,002 people were killed and nearly 2,376 injured in Myanmar’s Mandalay region – the country’s second-largest city and close to the epicentre of the quake – the country’s military government said in a statement on Saturday.

In the Thai capital Bangkok – located 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicentre in Myanmar – about 10 more deaths have been confirmed.

“Infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings were affected, leading to casualties and injuries among civilians. Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” Myanmar’s military said in the statement, which raised the death toll sharply from a previously reported 144 deaths.

The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.