A person from Bangor, located in County Down, recounted having to move students out of their primary school due to the shaking caused by the Myanmar earthquake that was felt in Bangkok.
A minimum of 144 individuals have lost their lives and several hundred others have been wounded in Myanmar as a result.
the 7.7 magnitude quake.
Scores are believed to be trapped in their skyscrapers in the Thai capital, located hundreds of miles away from the earthquake’s center, and an incomplete building has toppled over.
81 construction workers missing.
Robb Falls and his girlfriend Rebecca Root, who was at her residence, were able to flee without injury.
‘Chaos and uncertainty’
Mr. Falls, who is employed at a school, mentioned that the classroom began to “spin and sway” on Friday.
“It was quite chaotic actually… the blinds were trembling, I couldn’t grasp what was happening,” he shared with SANGGRALOKANews NI.
Maintaining balance to help the children reach safety proved difficult.
Mr. Falls, who works as a special educational needs support teacher, mentioned that several students were rather distressed. This required him to remain calm and downplay the situation as he guided them out of the school building.
After exiting, he described feeling like “something was amiss across the entire area,” comparing it to the sensation of walking from a boat onto solid ground.
“It was difficult to orient yourself,” he clarified.
At the same time, his colleague, the freelance reporter Rebecca Root, operated from her home office located on the ninth floor of a tall apartment complex.
Ms. Root mentioned that she could sense a swaying motion and observed the light fixtures oscillating.
“I immediately got on the ground and could hear crashes from outside,” she said.
After her neighbors, Rebecca mentioned that she ran out of the structure without shoes as shards of glass and chunks of plaster were dropping from above.
She mentioned, ‘I simply wanted to reach downstairs at the earliest.’
The pair are lodging at a close-by hotel and doubt whether they will be able to go back to their residence since it has sustained “significant structural harm.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll attempt to resolve these issues,” Mr. Falls said additionally.
Ms. Root described the current atmosphere in the city as one of “chaos and uncertainty,” noting that public transportation has been halted, causing throngs of pedestrians and traffic jams on the roads.
At present, the pair stated that they are simply thankful for being safe and sound.
It is anticipated that the overall count of individuals who were either killed or hurt due to the earthquake will increase over the next few days.
The quake occurred close to Mandalay, home to approximately 1.5 million residents.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a second earthquake hit just 12 minutes following the initial tremor, registering at a magnitude of 6.4. The epicenter for this aftershock was located 18 kilometers (11.1 miles) south of Sagaing.
Bangkok is situated over 1,300 kilometers (807 miles) away from the earthquake’s epicenter.
“I found it hard to conceive of experiencing a more intense earthquake… Knowing that we were so distant from Mandalay, I cannot fathom what it must have been like for those at the center,” Ms. Root added.
Earthquake activity recorded in Ireland
This earthquake stands as the most powerful one globally for the current year and has a higher magnitude compared to any event documented in 2024.
Shaking was experienced in nations bordering Myanmar, such as Thailand, India, and southwestern China.
The earthquake was also picked up by seismometers located in the Republic of Ireland, as reported by Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
The Irish National Seismic Network disseminated seismographs indicating seismic activity soon after 07:00 local time at monitoring stations throughout the nation.
- Major earthquake claims at least 144 lives in Myanmar; numerous individuals are stranded as structures crumble in Thailand.
- More than 140 people have died in Myanmar and Thailand following a massive earthquake.
- Sanggraloka reporter urgently searching for survivors amidst the debris of a 30-story building.
