The death toll following a violent earthquake in Southeast Asia on Friday continues to rise as officials are still assessing the damage the quake left behind, CBS News reported on Sunday.
When the 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand, it flattened buildings and left huge cracks in roads, per Breitbart News.
“As of Sunday, there were at least 1,662 people confirmed dead in Myanmar and the greater Bangkok area, which took the brunt of the earthquake in Thailand,” the CBS report stated.
Video footage shows buildings being reduced to piles of rubble, a rooftop pool being shaken as people were swimming, and people holding on as it shook the train they were riding.
Yikes! High-Rise Infinity Pool Turns into Waterfall After Thailand Earthquake
“At least 1,644 were killed in Myanmar, officials said, with another 3,408 people injured and 139 missing. In the area around Bangkok, the count rose Sunday to 18 dead, 33 injured and 78 missing, officials said,” per the CBS article.
As rescue efforts are underway, countries including Malaysia, Russia, and China are sending teams to help, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday.
“An initial situation report on earthquake relief efforts issued by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it’s mobilizing with other groups, and $5 million has been allocated from a Central Emergency Response Fund for ‘life-saving assistance,'” the outlet said.
More video footage shows buildings in Mandalay leaning over and partially collapsed, and the moments a rescuer works to free a woman whose legs are caught under rubble as she holds her baby:
“When I was doing the housework I felt shaking,” one woman told the BBC. “It was very strong. I was afraid the building would collapse. And as I went outside I was hit by a cabinet that fell on me,” she added.
According to Sky News, earthquakes are not uncommon in Myanmar but the recent one’s size has categorized it as one of the biggest and the aftershocks made it even worse, a reporter for the outlet said.
Earthquake Rocks Bangkok: Entire Building Topples
“Myanmar straddles the boundary of the vast Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indian plate that’s moving slowly to the north, piling up stress on the rocks beneath,” he stated.
“Specifically, along the 1,200 kilometer long Sagaing Fault line, running right next to Mandalay and many other popular cities. The quake happened when the strain on that fault suddenly released, and in geological terms at least, at a shallow depth, just 10 kilometers or six miles down. The closer to the surface, the greater the damage,” he explained.
