Powerful earthquake strikes central Myanmar

Micheal

Rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand after an earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar on Friday

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A powerful earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday afternoon, causing buildings to be evacuated hundreds of miles away in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand.

The epicentre of the 7.7 magnitude initial earthquake was just outside Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city with a population of 1.5mn. A second quake was registered 12 minutes later with a magnitude of 6.4.

Pictures on social media showed buildings in Mandalay, the country’s historic royal capital, reduced to rubble.

Bangkok, which is home to 17mn people, is more than 600 miles away from the earthquake.

There was no immediate information available on the number of casualties.

This is a developing story.

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