GUWAHATI: The 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Myanmar on Friday unleashed the energy equivalent of more than 300 atomic bomb explosions, CNN reported quoting a geologist who also warned aftershocks will likely continue to rattle the region.
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The death toll in the county has gone past 1000 with the US Geological Survey estimating that the death toll could top 10,000 according to its early modeling projections.
“The force that a quake like this releases is about 334 atomic bombs,” geologist Jess Phoenix told media.
She also warned aftershocks could last for a couple of months as the Indian tectonic plate continued to crash into the Eurasian plate beneath Myanmar.
Phoenix added that the devastation in Myanmar will only be worsened by the country’s civil war.
Meanwhile, according to other reports, authorities in Bangkok, which was also hit by the earthquake, on Friday said that they have received 2,000 reports of structural cracks in buildings across the city. In a statement, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said, "Despite the collapse of one under-construction building, no completed buildings have suffered structural failure.”
Following the earthquake, the Thai government declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok. At least 10 people have died, and 100 construction workers went missing after an unfinished skyscraper collapsed in Bangkok on Friday.
Giving an update on the rescue operations, Bangkok governor said that the rescue team had detected "vital signs from 15 individuals still trapped."
"No delays, no stops – every second counts in saving lives," Chadchart Sittipunt said.
