Myanmar earthquake: What we all know

An enormous earthquake has hit central Myanmar.

The magnitude-7.7 tremor was felt elsewhere, together with in Thailand and south-west China.

A whole bunch are feared useless, though it’s troublesome to acquire correct info.

Here’s what we all know thus far.

The earthquake’s epicentre was positioned 16km (10 miles) north-west of Myanmar’s metropolis Sagaing, the US Geological Survey (USGS) mentioned.

That is additionally close to Myanmar’s second-largest metropolis, Mandalay, with a inhabitants of about 1.5 million folks – and about 100km (62 miles) north of the capital Nay Pyi Taw.

The primary earthquake struck round 12:50 native time (06:20 GMT) on Friday, in response to the USGS. A second earthquake struck 12 minutes later, with a magnitude of 6.4.

The quake’s epicentre was 18km (11.1 miles) south of Myanmar’s metropolis Sagaing.

In Myanmar, there are experiences of roads buckling within the capital along with injury to buildings throughout the nation.

Robust tremors have been additionally felt elsewhere, together with in Thailand and south-west China.

Round 100 building employees are unaccounted for and 6 useless after an unfinished high-rise constructing collapsed a whole bunch of miles away from the epicentre, within the Thai capital Bangkok, in response to native authorities officers.

A video additionally confirmed a rooftop pool in Bangkok spilling over the perimeters of a swaying constructing.

Not less than 144 folks have died and a whole bunch of individuals have been injured in Myanmar, in response to the nation’s navy chief – Basic Min Aung Hlaing.

He has mentioned the variety of casualties is predicted to rise.

It might be some time earlier than official casualty figures change into identified, however a member of a rescue staff primarily based in Mandalay has instructed the BBC that the variety of deaths there “is a minimum of within the a whole bunch”.

“That is all we are able to say proper now as a result of the rescue efforts are ongoing,” they added.

Getting info out of Myanmar, previously generally known as Burma, is troublesome.

Myanmar has been dominated by a navy junta since a coup in 2021, making entry to info problematic.

The state controls nearly all native radio, tv, print and on-line media. Web use can be restricted.

Cell strains within the affected areas have been patchy because the quake struck, however tens of hundreds of individuals additionally stay with out electrical energy, making it robust for the BBC to speak with people on the bottom.

International journalists are additionally not often allowed to enter formally as a consequence of a scarcity of press freedom.

The Earth’s crust is made up of separate bits, known as plates, that nestle alongside one another.

These plates typically attempt to transfer however are prevented by the friction of rubbing up in opposition to an adjoining one.

However generally the stress builds till one plate instantly jerks throughout, inflicting the floor to maneuver.

They’re measured on a scale known as the Second Magnitude Scale (Mw). This has changed the higher identified Richter scale, now thought of outdated and fewer correct.

The quantity attributed to an earthquake represents a mix of the space the fault line has moved and the drive that moved it.

A tremor of two.5 or much less often can’t be felt, however may be detected by devices. Quakes of as much as 5 are felt and trigger minor injury. The Myanmar earthquake at 7.7 is assessed as main and often causes critical injury, because it has on this occasion.

Something above 8.0 causes catastrophic injury and may completely destroy communities at its centre.

The UK’s International, Commonwealth & Growth Workplace (FCDO) has warned about the potential of a number of sturdy aftershocks in locations affected by the earthquake.

It has suggested folks within the space, or vacationers planning to journey to Myanmar, Thailand or Laos, to observe native media and comply with the recommendation of native authorities and tour operators.

The FCDO has additionally beforehand issued recommendation in opposition to all journey to elements of Myanmar and all however important journey to elements of Thailand and Laos.

Myanmar’s safety state of affairs “could deteriorate at brief discover and the navy regime can introduce journey restrictions at any time” amid an “more and more risky” battle, it mentioned.

The FCDO’s warning for elements of Thailand is “as a consequence of common assaults within the provinces by the border with Malaysia” and its recommendation for Laos pertains to “intermittent assaults on infrastructure and armed clashes with anti-government teams” in Xaisomboun province.

This earthquake and its aftershocks have been comparatively shallow – about 10km in depth.

Which means the influence on the floor is more likely to have been extra devastating than a deeper earthquake, with buildings shaken a lot more durable and extra more likely to collapse.

On 26 December 2004, one of many largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that swept away whole communities across the Indian Ocean.

The 9.1 magnitude quake killed about 228,000 folks.

The most important ever earthquake registered 9.5 and was recorded in Chile in 1960.