Powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocks central Myanmar

A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake has struck central Myanmar with a depth of 10km, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The quake was recorded at 5.20 AEDT on Friday and was felt across the surrounding region.

An aftershock of magnitude 6.4 struck 12 minutes after the initial quake, also at a depth of 10km.

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The iconic Ava Bridge in Mandalay has collapsed into the Irrawaddy River.

The quake was felt in Thailand’s capital Bagkok — home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.

As a result of the quake, 43 people were trapped in the building of Thailand’s National Institute for Emergency Medicine, while seven others were injured.

Startled residents poured out of high-rise apartment buildings and hotels in densely populated central Bangkok.

They remained in the streets, seeking shade from the midday sun in the minutes after the quake.

The quake was forceful enough to send water sloshing out of pools, some high up in high-rises, as the tremor shook.

Many buildings were evacuated as they swayed in the rare quake.

Some people in China’s Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, also took to social media saying they felt the earthquake.

The epicentre of the earthquake was in central Myanmar, about 50km east of the city of Monywa.

There were no immediate reports of the effect of the earthquake in Myanmar, which is in the middle of a civil war.