Myanmar earthquake: Death toll crosses 1,000

The official number of fatalities from the earthquake in Myanmar has now risen to 1002, according to the country's military as quoted by BBC.

The earthquake has left 2,376 people injured and 30 missing.

Several buildings, including a mosque in Mandalay, collapsed while people were praying inside it, and a university building in the same city caught fire as a result of the massive earthquakes.

Witnesses earlier told Myanmar Now that parts of the historic Mandalay Palace in Mandalay were severely damaged. At the same time, a bridge in Sagaing Township was completely destroyed in the quake.

Naypyitaw airport stops operation

Meanwhile, air traffic movement in Myanmar's main airport located in Naypyitaw has been shut down after the earthquake left the air traffic control tower collapsed.

A source told Myanmar Now that an air traffic controller, three female assistants, the two-year-old son of one of the assistants, and a military intelligence officer were confirmed dead following the collapse of the tower.

Bangkok

Strong tremors of the quake were also felt in neighbouring Thailand's capital, Bangkok city where several houses were damaged.

The tremors resulted in 10 deaths, 16 injuries and 101 missing at three construction sites in Bangkok, including the collapse of a 30-storey government building, according to Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej, as quoted by The Bangkok Post.

Pasakorn Boonyalak, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation told the newspaper that  10 other provinces, including Samut Sakhon, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phrae, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Chai Nat, Lamphun, Loei and Kamphaeng Phet, were impacted by the tremors.

A large number of people rushed out of buildings to safer spots after the earthquake tremors were felt in Bangkok, one of the popular tourist destinations in the world.

As a safety measure, several businesses announced temporary closures due to the quake.

Another video that has gone viral online showed water from a swimming pool located on the top of a high-rise splashed on the nearby streets due to the impact of the tremor.