Southeast Asia hit with a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake, thousands feared dead

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake has rocked Southeast Asia hitting Thailand, Myanmar and Bangkok with thousands feared dead.

The US Geological Survey said the tremor was shallow at around 10 kilometres and the epicentre was in Myanmar and a second earthquake hit 12 minutes later and was measured at 6.4 magnitude.

The USGS said thousands of people could have been killed in Myanmar and the disaster from the two earthquakes is “likely widespread.”

Fraser Morton, a Scottish tourist in Bangkok said there was a lot “of screaming a lot of panic” as the earthquake struck.

7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Myanmar and Thailand, triggering collapse of Bangkok high-rise#earthquake #bankok #thailan #trendingnews #viralvideo pic.twitter.com/jYgh3mv762

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He was in a shopping centre “when all of a sudden the whole building began to move,” he told Associated Press.

He added, “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.”

In Thailand the Stock Exchange suspended all trading as the earthquakes struck.

7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Myanmar and Thailand, triggering collapse of Bangkok high-rise#earthquake #bankok #thailan #trendingnews #viralvideo pic.twitter.com/jYgh3mv762

— The Summer News (@TheSummerNews2) March 28, 2025

The bourse operator said, “Following the earthquake incident, the Stock Exchange of Thailand hereby announces the immediate suspension of all trading activities.

“The closure affects all markets, including SET, the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI), and the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX), for today’s afternoon session.”

The Red Cross and Myanmar’s state media outlet Global New Light said that many buildings have been destroyed across five cities and towns and two bridges have collapsed.

The Red Cross’s international programme coordinator said “roads, bridges and public buildings,” has been damaged.

Speaking to reporters she said, “We currently have concerns for large scale dams that people are watching to see the conditions of them.

“We anticipate the impact to be quite large.”