A major earthquake struck the China-Myanmar border early Monday, triggering widespread regional panic, structural damage, and emergency rescue mobilizations.
BEIJING/YANGON — A major, powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region near the volatile border shared by China and Myanmar early Monday, forcing residents to flee swaying buildings, cracking critical infrastructure, and triggering an immediate regional mobilization of search-and-rescue teams.
The violent seismic event, which struck as millions were starting their day, occurred without warning, shaking communities with an immense force that witnesses described as sheer terror. Tremors were felt hundreds of miles away, causing high-rise towers to sway in Bangkok, Thailand, and spreading panic through neighborhoods from Kunming in China to Mandalay in Myanmar.
The ground lurched with terrifying force, transforming a quiet morning into chaotic scenes of survival. In towns nearest the epicenter, the shaking was extreme. Buildings groaned and swayed, debris rained down onto streets, and deep fissures appeared in asphalt roads. Families clutched children and scrambled from collapsing homes, gathering in open parks and squares as emergency sirens began to pierce the air. Witnesses recounted fleeing barefoot, leaving all belongings behind, driven by the instinctive need to escape falling structures.