“Bangkok is not among cities located in high seismic risk areas. Earthquake is therefore a new experience for locals. I could see people panicking all around. Very scary and shocking scenarios,” says Sanjay Srivastava, Chief, Disaster Risk Reduction at UN-ESCAP, Bangkok. Reaching out tobusinessline after an earthquake of magnitude of 7.1 (M7.1) that swayed buildings in the city struck Mandalay, 1,400 km away in neighbouring Myanmar, Srivastava said he and his staff are safe.
UN building evacuated
“I’m fine and safe,” Srivastava said in response to a query of concern. “I was in UN building, and, as chief of disaster risk reduction, supposed to inform my office what to do, what not to do! Security team evacuated all staff members, and we waited for two hours outside before we assessed that risk of staying in the building is low. We chose to re-enter the building only later.”
Related Stories
Myanmar declares emergency in its capital, after 7.7 magnitude earthquake
A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar
But Bangkok is at potential risk from two fault lines. One is located in Myanmar, about 400 km down the Andaman Sea, and the other in Kanchanaburi province, about 200 km away. “A lot of buildings in Bangkok seem to be located on ‘soft clay’. They could be damaged when an earthquake of major consequence occurs along fault lines,” Srivastava pointed out.
Swarm of aftershocks
The Earthquake Observation Division of the Thailand Meteorological Department recorded a swarm of 14 aftershocks in Myanmar until 3.15 pm IST on Saturday (4.44 pm Bangkok time) following the bigger M7.1 quake. The magnitude of the swarm ranged from M5.5 at 1.45 pm Myanmar time to M5.2 at 2.37 pm, M4.7 at 2.57 pm, M4.5 at 4.30 pm, M4.3 at 4.26 pm, M4.2 at 4.06 pm, and 4.0 at 3.21 pm.
These were interspersed with a number of tremors of smaller magnitudes of M3.0 and above. Earlier, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the M7.1 event was shallow, at a depth of just 10 km, with an epicentre near the central city of Mandalay, about 50 km east of Monywa. Television footage showed residents in central Bangkok pouring out of high-rise condominiums and hotels.
Myanmar stays mum
The epicentre was about 17.2 km from Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, with a population of about 1.5 million. There was no immediate word from Myanmar authorities on the damage. Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology did not even acknowledge the existence of an emergency. Wire agencies reporting from Bangkok said that the capital city of Thailand is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments. The quake was forceful enough to send water sloshing out of pools, some high up in high-rises. This was a scene to behold, eyewitnesses recounted.
