A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled much of Southeast Asia on Friday, flattening skyscrapers and leaving more than 100 people dead and dozens missing from Myanmar to Thailand.
Even Bangkok, some 600 miles away from the epicenter in Mandalay, Myanmar, the country's second-largest city, felt widespread shaking and saw significant damage from the quake -- including the total collapse of a skyscraper under construction.
8 dead in skyscraper collapse in Bangkok
144 dead, more than 700 injured in Myanmar
Journalist in Bangkok describes shaking hotel
Witness captures Bangkok building collapse while driving on highway
Jack Brown was driving on a highway in Bangkok and thought he had punctured a tire when his vehicle swerved a little bit.
"I parked the car in stationary and realized that the car was still moving around quite a lot and I immediately knew then it was an earthquake," Brown told ABC News Live.
Concerned about being on the elevated highway during the earthquake, he continued along and saw a building under construction collapse "in a matter of seconds." He captured the collapse on video from his car.
"It was just horrifying to see that destruction, knowing that there are very likely a lot of people in the site," he said.
At least eight people were killed in the collapse, as a search and rescue effort is underway for more than 100 who remain missing, police said.
Brown said he had never experienced anything like this in his 10 years of living in Bangkok.
"When you're in an earthquake, you don't know if you're at the beginning of it, the middle or the end. Are there going to be any other aftershocks or any other earthquakes following this one? Are they going to get worse?" he said. "There was concern, but it was unprecedented for me, I didn't really know what to expect or what to do, and I just wanted to sort of keep moving and get away from that zone."
144 dead, more than 700 injured in Myanmar
At least 144 people have died in Myanmar, according to the first official death toll released by the military government.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who has led Myanmar since 2021, said 96 people have died in the Naypyidaw Council Territory, 18 in Sagaing and 30 in Kyaukse. There have also been at least 732 injuries in the country.
Huge earthquake kills at least 144 in Myanmar, with many trapped as buildings collapse in Thailand
Powerful Myanmar earthquake kills dozens, also hits Thailand
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