The airport shared its most recent operational status update approximately two hours after the earthquake occurred 16 kilometers (10 miles) north-northwest of Sagaing, Myanmar, at around 12:50 p.m. local time.
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Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Photo by Reuters |
A traveler scheduled to depart from Bangkok on Friday informed CNN that they would likely miss their flight due to the chaos that erupted in the wake of the earthquake.
Reuters reported that tremors were also felt in the Thai capital Bangkok, where hundreds of people poured out of buildings, many of them hotel guests in bathrobes and swimming costumes.
Witnesses in Bangkok said people ran out onto the streets in panic and water splashed out of swimming pools.
One office tower in downtown Bangkok swayed from side to side for at least two minutes, with doors and windows creaking loudly, they said.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has designated Bangkok an “emergency zone” following a the earthquake.
In the Chatuchak Park vicinity, a significant structure collapsed, resulting in one fatality, with additional damage noted throughout the city.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra “immediately instructed the Ministry of Interior to declare Bangkok an emergency zone, and to notify provinces nationwide to treat the situation as a national emergency, enabling immediate public assistance if needed,” according to CNN.
At Mandalay Airport in Myanmar, passengers were seen crouching and the earthquake that hit near the city, home to roughly 1.6 million residents, as captured in social media footage.
The videos depicted disorderly moments as airport personnel assisted numerous passengers in evacuating while piercing alarm bells sounded in the aftermath of the quake.
The earthquake caused chunks of ceilings fell from buildings and roads buckled in Myanmar capital Naypyidaw, according to AFP.
Myanmar has not made any announcement on damage or casualties.
