‘Whole building began to move, onlookers screamed and ran’: Eyewitnesses recall panic during Bangkok earthquake

Bangkok Earthquake: Hours after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar midday on Friday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed, several videos of the havoc are circulating on social media.

According to a report by PTI, the midday temblor, with an epicentre near Myanmar's Mandalay, was followed by a strong 6.4-magnitude aftershock.

Following the earthquake, the Myanmar's military-run government declared a state of emergency in six regions and states including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay.

The Red Cross stated, as PTI quoted, “Initial reports from the ground suggest the earthquake has caused significant damage,” adding that information on humanitarian needs is still being gathered.

Situation in Bangkok:

When rubble from the collapsing building site hit his truck, a construction worker was killed in Bangkok, while the falling debris crushed another, said Songwut Wangpon, a rescue worker.

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said three people were killed at the site and 90 are missing. Wechayachai said that seven people had been rescued so far from outside the collapsed building.

A dramatic video of the building's collapse near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak market circulated on social media. It showed the multi-story building with a crane on top toppling into a cloud of dust as onlookers screamed and ran.

People who have evacuated from their buildings have been cautioned to stay outside in case there are more aftershocks.

Here's how people reacted when buildings swayed:

April Kanichawanakul, who works in an office building in Bangkok's city centre, said, “I just thought I was dizzy.”

Along with her colleagues, she ran downstairs from the tenth floor of their building, Tonson Tower, and waited outside for a signal that it was safe to return.

“All of a sudden the whole building began to move. Immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic,” said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland.

“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,” he added.

“I got outside and then looked up at the building, and the whole building was moving, dust and debris; it was pretty intense,” Morton said. “Lots of chaos.”

A lawyer working in central Bangkok, Voranoot Thirawat, said she heard the building creaking as it moved back and forth from the shockwaves. She and her colleagues ran down 12 flights of stairs. “In my lifetime, there was no earthquake like this in Bangkok,” she said.

A tourist from England, Paul Vincent, mentioned he was at a streetside bar when the quake struck.

“The next thing, everybody came on the street, so there was a lot of screaming and panicking, which obviously made it a lot worse,” he said.

On watching a high-rise building swaying and water falling from a rooftop pool, he said, “When I saw the building, oh my God, that's when ... it hit me. There was people crying in the streets and, you know, the panic was horrendous really.”

With agency inputs.