*

Earthquake was of 7.7 magnitude, USGS reports

*

Three dead in Bangkok, skyscraper collapses

*

Buildings and bridges in Myanmar collapse

(Updates with Bangkok search, details on Myanmar situation)

March 28 (Reuters) -

A

powerful earthquake centred in Myanmar rocked Southeast Asia

on Friday, killing several people and causing extensive damage,

with rescuers in Bangkok searching for 81 people in the rubble

of a collapsed building.

At least three people were killed in the town of Taungoo

in Myanmar when a mosque partially collapsed, witnesses said,

while local media reported that at least two people died and 20

were injured after a hotel collapsed in Aung Ban.

In Thailand, the defence minister said rescuers were

searching for 81 people trapped in the rubble of a skyscraper

that was under construction and collapsed into a pile of rubble.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said there had been

three deaths at the building site. He warned of possible

aftershocks but urged people to be calm and said the situation

was largely under control.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake,

which struck at lunchtime, was of 7.7 magnitude and at a depth

of 10 km (6.2 miles). The epicentre was about 17 km from the

Myanmar city of Mandalay, which has a population of about 1.5

million.

The quake was followed by a powerful aftershock and several

more moderate ones.

"We all ran out of the house as everything started shaking,"

a resident of Mandalay told Reuters. "I witnessed a five-storey

building collapse in front of my eyes. Everyone in my town is

out on the road and no one dares to go back inside

buildings."

The quake caused the collapse of buildings in five cities

and towns, as well as a railway bridge and a road bridge on the

Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, Myanmar state media said.

Images showed the destroyed Ava Bridge over the Irrawaddy

River, its arches leaning into the water.

The quake will further stretch Myanmar's ruling military,

which is fighting a civil war against an armed uprising. The

junta declared a state of emergency in multiple regions but

provided no specifics of damage or injuries.

"The state will make inquiries on the situation quickly and

conduct rescue operations along with providing humanitarian

aid," it said on the Telegram messaging app.

The Red Cross said roads, bridges and buildings had been

damaged in Myanmar, and there were concerns for the state of

large dams.

Mandalay is Myanmar's ancient royal capital and at the

centre of the country's Buddhist heartland.

Social media posts showed collapsed buildings and debris

strewn across streets in the city. Reuters could not immediately

verify the posts.

Local media outlet Myanmar Now posted images showing a clock

tower had collapsed and part of the wall by Mandalay Palace was

in ruins.

A witness in the city, Htet Naing Oo, told Reuters that a

tea shop had collapsed with several people trapped inside. "We

couldn't go in," she said. "The situation is very bad."

At least three people died after a mosque in Taungoo

partially collapsed, two eyewitnesses told Reuters.

"We were saying prayers when the shaking started...

Three died on the spot," said one of two people who spoke to

Reuters.

Local media reported a hotel in Aung Ban, in Shan state,

crumbled into rubble, with one outlet, the Democratic Voice of

Burma, reporting two people had died and 20 were trapped.

The army-run MRTV reported that the quake toppled buildings,

crushed cars and left massive fissures on roads across the

capital, Naypyitaw.

Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher, Joe Freeman,

said the earthquake could not have come at a worse time for

Myanmar, given the number of displaced people, the existing need

for relief aid and cuts by the Trump administration to U.S. aid

that have affected humanitarian aid.

Freeman said restricted media access meant there might

not be a clear picture of the extent of damage and loss for some

time.

Since overthrowing the elected civilian government of Nobel

laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, the military has struggled to

run the country, leaving the economy and basic services like

healthcare in tatters.

An armed opposition, comprising established ethnic armies

and new resistance groups formed since the coup, has seized

swathes of territory and driven the junta out of border areas,

increasingly hemming it into the central lowlands.

The fighting has displaced more than three million

people in Myanmar, with widespread food insecurity and over a

third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance,

according to the United Nations.

The country has also been hit by a number of natural

disasters in recent years, including Typhoon Yagi last year and

Cyclone Mocha in 2023, and the internationally isolated junta

has struggled to respond adequately.

OFFICE TOWER SHAKES IN BANGKOK

In the Thai capital, people ran out onto the streets in

panic, many of them hotel guests in bathrobes and swimming

costumes, as water cascaded down from an elevated pool at a

luxury hotel, witnesses said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand suspended all trading

activities for the Friday afternoon session.

One office tower in downtown Bangkok swayed from side to

side for at least two minutes, with doors and windows creaking

loudly, witnesses said.

"At first, I didn't realise (it was an earthquake)," office

worker on Varunyou Armarttayakul told Reuters.

"But then I saw the table shaking, and the chair and

computer started swaying, too. I only knew for sure when I heard

the noise of the cracking walls and cracking glass. Part of the

ceiling even collapsed - that's when I had to run out."

China's Xinhua news agency said strong tremors were felt in

southwestern Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar, but there

were no reports of casualties.