Anxious loved ones waited outside a twisted mass of metal and concrete in the heart of Thailand’s capital on Saturday as rescuers searched for dozens of missing workers and the city confronted the aftermath of a rare and powerful earthquake that set skyscrapers swaying and rattled millions of residents.

Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake struck hundreds of miles away in impoverished Myanmar, but was strong enough to send shock waves through the forest of high-rise condominiums, shopping malls and offices of central Bangkok, sending water spilling from infinity pools and buckling carriages on the city’s rail network.

In Myanmar some 700 people have been confirmed killed so far and more than 1,600 injured, according to the isolated country’s military government, with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimating the final toll there could surpass 10,000 people according to early modeling.

At least 10 people have died in Bangkok, its deputy governor said, sending shock waves of a different kind through a city that sits on no major tectonic fault.

‘I kept calling’

The ground zero of the devastation in the Thai capital is an under-construction 30-story skyscraper next to the sprawling Chatuchak weekend market popular with the millions of foreign tourists that visit the city each year.

Early Saturday the loved ones of those feared buried under the mountain of broken pillars, rubble and steel sat on plastic chairs at the edge of the excavation site, watching diggers claw through the debris.

“I kept calling, but it was unsuccessful. All I kept hearing was the continuous toot… toot… of a busy signal,” she said.

“I feel like there’s a lump in my stomach, and I have no appetite to eat. I’m worried about my mom and sister still being stuck inside since yesterday. Nowhere to be found.”

She said she had spoken to her sister on Friday morning before they left for work.

“I asked her what she would have for lunch,” she recalled.

In a city where deep inequalities are on stark display, many of Bangkok’s construction workers hail from poorer parts of Thailand, especially its less wealthy northeast, as well as from neighboring Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The collapsed structure was being built by a subsidiary of the China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group, itself a subsidiary of the state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC), one of the world’s largest construction and engineering contractors, according to a now-deleted social media post by the group.

The Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited was also involved in the project, according to Chinese state media report from 2021.

In a post on its official WeChat account on April 2, 2024, China Railway No. 10 Engineering Group celebrated the completion of the building’s main structure on March 31, 2024.

When completed, the 137-meter building was to serve as the office of Thailand’s State Audit Office and other related government agencies, the company said in the post.

Broken skybridge

Elsewhere across the Southeast Asian megacity, glitzy glass-and-steel buildings home to expensive real estate swayed and groaned when the quake hit, showering dust onto the ground.

A bridge connecting two high-rise apartment buildings in an upmarket neighborhood broke during the quake, video showed.

Other videos showed the contents of rooftop infinity pools – a popular status symbol of Bangkok’s well-heeled – sloshing off the sides of towering apartment blocks onto the street below.

Bangkok has expanded at a breakneck pace, with high-rise condos and gleaming skyscrapers shooting up in recent decades.

When the tremors began, Bella Pawita Sunthornpong thought she was experiencing a moment of lightheadedness, “because I was seeing everything was swaying.”

She grabbed her phone and started running down from the 33rd floor, telling others around her to run too. As she made her way out of the building, she said, ceiling paint was falling and everything was still swaying.

“I was thinking, you know, whatever happened, I just need to keep running until I hit the ground,” Pawita Sunthornpong said.

Engineers were rushing Saturday to assess nearly 1,000 reports of “structural concerns” across the city. Authorities said buildings would be graded – green for safe, yellow for buildings with some damage which are usable with caution, and red indicating severe damage requiring closure.

Fresh misery for war-torn Myanmar

The worst damage has taken place hundreds of miles away across the border in Myanmar, a nation far less well equipped to deal with such a large disaster.

The quake struck near Myanmar’s second most populous city, Mandalay, home to historic temple complexes and palaces.

Reuters video from near Mandalay showed a multi-story building collapsing in on itself as the quake hit, sending around a dozen saffron-robed monks ducking for cover.

The city, home to around 1.5 million people, is normally popular with foreign tourists.

But a civil war has raged across the country since the military took power in 2021, ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ending a 10-year experiment with democratic rule.

Swathes of the country lie outside the control of the junta and are run by a patchwork of ethnic rebels and militias, making compiling reliable information extremely difficult.

The epicenter was recorded in Sagaing region, which borders Mandalay and has been ravaged by the war, with the junta, pro-military militia and rebel groups battling for control and all running checkpoints, making travel by road or river extremely difficult.

Having largely shut the country off from the world during four years of civil war, Min Aung Hlaing – the leader of Myanmar’s military government – issued an “open invitation to any organizations and nations willing to come and help the people in need within our country,” adding the toll was likely to rise.

Several aid agencies said they are mobilizing ground operations.

But the military – which has ruled Myanmar for most of its history since independence from Britain in 1948 – has a long and troubled track record of struggling to respond to major natural disasters, and in the past has granted humanitarian access, only to rescind it later.

According to a high-level Ecuadorian official familiar with the planning, construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta is part of that preparation, with barracks-style housing and administration offices designed to support sustained operations and US military personnel. The official requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has made no secret of his desire for foreign boots on the ground as gangs unleash terror across the country – a request he is expected to reiterate this weekend. Noboa is set to meet Trump in Florida on Saturday to discuss immigration, trade and “security cooperation.”

Noboa told the BBC he wants the US, Brazil and European nations to join his war on gangs. During an interview in early March, the president claimed Ecuador is dealing with “international narco-terrorist” groups and that his country needs the “help of international forces.” In a local radio interview, he said his government was “already in talks” to receive foreign military support for provinces such as Guayas, known for high crime, but did not specify which countries were involved in the talks.

“We have a plan in place with our law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces, the Strategic Intelligence Center, and international assistance and support from special forces. That’s essential,” he told Guayaquil’s Radio City.

Noboa’s efforts are heavily dependent on April’s presidential runoff as he’s set off to face leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez, who opposes the presence of any foreign force in the country.

The rapid pace of construction in Manta, the official said, reflects how soon Ecuador hopes international help might arrive.

The projects are supported by the United States, documents appear to show, and a US representative was present at the signing of the agreement, the Ecuadorian official said.

One rendering for a floating dock, dated August 2024, is labeled “Southcom Floating Dock,” an apparent reference to the US Southern Command, also known as Southcom. Another rendering, dated June 2024, has the US State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) logo and the project name of “Equipped Containers for the Ecuador’s Antinarcotics Special Unit and the DEA” and describes the project as an “international collaboration with the US Embassy.”

Plans for these projects have continued under the Trump administration. On March 26, Ecuador’s government announced several US-backed investments “paused due to geopolitical factors” are resuming in the country, with hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for construction of a pier and DEA-linked base.

There is precedent; the last time US troops operated here was from 1999 to 2009, at the now-defunct Manta Air Base. Back then, they ran surveillance flights targeting drug routes in the eastern Pacific.

Noboa has also publicly asked the Trump administration to designate Ecuadorian armed groups as terror organizations, as it has already done for several organized crime groups in the region. Such a designation could potentially empower the US government to use military force abroad in combatting the groups.

From ‘island of peace’ to a country on edge

Ecuador now has the highest homicide rate in Latin America, according to InSight Crime – recording nearly twice as many killings as Mexico. The surge is fueled by drug trafficking routes, turf wars, and alliances between local gangs and foreign cartels.

Despite the sweeping operations, many officials admit the violence feels more like it’s being managed than curtailed. Still, dozens of arrests were made.

“Cartels, gangs and other transnational criminal organizations in our part of the world are engaging in a wide array of illicit activity, from narcotics trafficking to money laundering, smuggling of illegal immigrants and human trafficking, which endanger the health, welfare and safety of everyday Americans,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said during her testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Tuesday.

Ecuador’s location – flanked by the world’s top cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia – and its deep-water ports make it a key transit point for narcotics. But its vulnerability goes beyond geography.

The dollarized economy and historically loose visa policies make it easy for criminal networks to move money and people. And corruption, experts say, greases the wheels.

“It’s widespread and far-reaching,” said James Bargent of InSight Crime. “Corruption is rampant from low-level police to the upper echelons of political power, and this facilitates trafficking and provides protection to the criminal groups involved.”

In Durán, one of the country’s most violent cities, Police Chief Roberto Santamaria acknowledged corruption among police. He said they sometimes employ random polygraph testing and check bank accounts for unusual activity to try to root out corrupt officers.

Seeking global backing

Noboa has framed his crackdown as both a domestic fight and a global plea for help. Ahead of the runoff election set for April 13, he has positioned himself as a hardliner on security. In January, he and his wife were seated front and center at Trump’s inauguration, applauding as the president vowed to fight cartels and restore “law and order.”

Unlike Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has firmly rejected foreign troops’ involvement against cartels in her country, Noboa is actively seeking it. His face-to-face meeting with Trump this weekend is expected to be his most direct appeal yet for US backing.

Before leaving for Florida, Noboa also addressed Ecuador’s improving ties with the US on Friday. “We’re one of the few countries where cooperation programs are being resumed,” Noboa said to Radio Centro. “We are working on security, on providing jobs so that people don’t leave. And the US has honored that relationship.”

Ecuador’s efforts aren’t limited to government partnerships. This month, Noboa announced a “strategic alliance” with Erik Prince, the founder of the private military firm formerly known as Blackwater.

The partnership – which Noboa described as part of his plan to fight narcoterrorism and illegal fishing – was met with sharp criticism inside Ecuador, including from a former Army commander who warned of turning to a “mercenary army.” Still, it signals how far Noboa is willing to go to bring in outside support.

“They’re helping with training in urban warfare … and bringing new technology,” Noboa said Friday, speaking on Prince’s involvement. “They’ve operated in a dozen countries – including the US.”

For Noboa, foreign support isn’t a distant hope – it’s a strategy already in motion. Ecuador is expanding military infrastructure, clearing political hurdles, and making its case to the region, to its citizens, and now, directly to the United States.

Whether that help arrives – or arrives soon – remains to be seen.

A powerful, deadly earthquake struck at the heart of civil war-ravaged Myanmar on Friday, piling fresh misery on an impoverished nation that was cut off from much of the world even before this natural disaster struck.

The timing could hardly be worse. The Southeast Asian country is reeling from a raging civil war between a military junta that seized power in 2021, and pro-democracy fighters and ethnic rebel groups battling to overthrow it.

The war – now in its fifth year – has ravaged communications and transport in Myanmar, making it particularly difficult to get a clear picture of the damage.

So far authorities say more than 1,000 people have died. But experts fear the real toll will be far higher and could take weeks to emerge.

Here’s what we know so far.

A historic city hit hardest

On Saturday fragments emerged showing the destruction wrought by the quake from former royal capital Mandalay, home to around 1.5 million people and the city closest to its epicenter.

And they spoke of desperately rushing injured loved ones to medical care – or the agonizing wait for news of friends still missing or trapped under the rubble.

“It hit very strong and very fast,” she said of the earthquake. She recalled she was boiling water to make milk for her baby when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck not far from her home to the east of the city.

Part of the wall of the house collapsed onto the woman’s grandmother who was sitting nearby, burying her legs in rubble and debris, she said.

“The door couldn’t open as a fence had collapsed onto it. I shouted out for help and my husband came in from the street. He jumped on the door and managed to open it.”

“Until now, we have not been able to recover their dead bodies from rubble,” he said.

The quake also shattered some of the city’s mosques which were busy with worshippers attending Friday prayers, one man said.

“When the buildings collapsed, many Muslims got trapped inside, causing casualties and deaths… In one mosque, there are more than a hundred injured.”

Across the mighty Irrawaddy river that runs past Mandalay, there is also destruction in Sagaing region, a more rural area, where many live in more flimsy – but more earthquake survivable – wooden and thatched houses.

Nang Aye Yin, 34, heard news that the nunnery where a relative of his was studying had collapsed.

“Luckily no one died, but two were badly wounded. One of my nieces aged 11 lost three toes and another nun had her head broken as well as one of her legs.”

Hospitals in both Sagaing and Mandalay turned them away as they were already at full capacity, he said.

A rare call for outside help

Myanmar’s military junta seized power in a 2021 coup after a brief 10-year experiment with democracy. Before that, Myanmar’s generals ruled for decades. And generally, whenever disaster struck, they would eschew foreign help and play down the impact.

This time it’s different.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing took the unusual step of quickly asking for foreign aid. He visited the city of Mandalay on Saturday to inspect the damage, state media reported, as well as the capital Naypyidaw which was also hit hard.

On Saturday several neighboring countries began sending rescue teams and aid.

A team from China – historically one of the junta’s closest partners – were the first to arrive, touching down in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon bringing relief supplies, Chinese state media said.

Singapore, Malaysia, India and Russia also announced they would send help.

But for those in quake-stricken Mandalay, around 380 miles away and with transportation uncertain, the wait driving them mad.

“My head is going to explode while waiting for calls for friends who cannot be found yet,” the former lawyer said.

The Danish foreign minister on Saturday scolded the Trump administration for its “tone” in criticizing Denmark and Greenland, saying his country is already investing more into Arctic security and remains open to more cooperation with the United States.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made the remarks in a video posted to social media after US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the strategic island.

“Many accusations and many allegations have been made. And of course we are open to criticism,” Rasmussen said speaking in English. “But let me be completely honest: we do not appreciate the tone in which it is being delivered. This is not how you speak to your close allies. And I still consider Denmark and the United States to be close allies.”

Vance on Friday said Denmark had “underinvested” in Greenland’s security and demanded that Denmark change its approach as President Donald Trump pushes to take over the Danish territory.

Vance visited US troops on Pituffik Space Base on mineral-rich Greenland alongside his wife and other senior US officials for a trip that was ultimately scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were not consulted about the original itinerary.

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance said Friday. “You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change.”

Vance said the US had “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of Greenland as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.

“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”

The reaction by members of Greenland’s parliament and residents has rendered that unlikely, with anger erupting over the Trump administration’s attempts to annex the vast Arctic island. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pushed back on Vance’s claim that Denmark isn’t doing enough for defense in the Arctic, calling her country “a good and strong ally.”

And Greenlandic lawmakers on Thursday agreed to form a new government, banding together to resist Trump’s overtures. Four of the five parties elected to Greenland’s parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalition that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature.

Løkke Rasmussen, in his video, reminded viewers of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations on the island, he said, to the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest with some 200 soldiers today.

The 1951 agreement “offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland,” the foreign minister said. “If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it.”

Løkke Rasmussen added that Denmark had increased its own investment into Arctic defense. In January, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.1 billion) in financial commitments for Arctic security covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites.

A peace deal ending a conflict that killed tens of thousands in South Sudan is in danger of collapsing, raising fears that the world’s youngest nation — and one of its poorest — could swiftly lapse back into war.

South Sudan split from the rest of Sudan in 2011 after decades of pro-independence unrest but has struggled to keep the peace in its territory, which is divided along ethnic lines.

It plunged into a civil war in 2013 and then again three years later, until the violence was stopped by a fragile ceasefire agreement in 2018.

What’s the current crisis about?

The nation is governed by a coalition government, led by President Salva Kiir and five vice presidents, who include Kiir’s rival Riek Machar, the leader of the SPLM/A-IO party.

Machar was arrested this week, prompting the SPLM/A-IO to issue a statement Thursday saying his detention “effectively brings the (peace) agreement (between him and Kiir) to a collapse.”

“The prospect for peace and stability in South Sudan has now been put into serious jeopardy,” it added.

Machar’s arrest followed the sacking and arrest of other prominent officials from the SPLM/A-IO, as well as the arrival of troops from neighboring Uganda at Kiir’s invitation to help South Sudan’s military fight a local militia. The SPLM/A-IO condemned what it called “military aggression against civilians” by the Ugandan forces.

Machar also condemned Uganda’s military intervention in a letter to the United Nations’ secretary-general on March 23, saying it violated the terms of the peace deal.

South Sudan has never held a national election. Its current government is the result of a power-sharing agreement struck in 2018 between Kiir and Machar. The deal ended a five-year-civil war, which killed an estimated 400,000 people.

South Sudan is polarized between the majority Dinka tribe, which Kiir hails from, and Machar’s Nuer ethnic group, the second-largest in the country.

Clashes this month in the town of Nasir between government forces and a Nuer militia known as the White Army have shaken the nation’s fragile peace. Dozens have been killed in the clashes, local media reported.

On Friday, authorities confirmed Machar’s arrest, accusing him of encouraging the militia to overrun a military base in Nasir and attack a UN helicopter. The White Army, for its part, denies ties with Machar or his party.

He cited “intelligence and security reports.”

Makuei added that Machar and “his anti-peace colleagues of the SPLM/A-IO” – which he said preached hate and tribalism – “will be investigated and brought to book accordingly.”

The SPLM/A-IO has not commented on these allegations.

What’s the world saying?

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric has warned that Machar’s arrest and the unrest in the country were taking the nation “one step closer to the edge of a collapse into civil war.”

“The peace agreement is in shambles,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Friday and called for de-escalation. He added that the clashes were “darkly reminiscent” of the earlier civil wars.

Western nations have also sought to cool tempers. In a joint statement Thursday, the embassies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands and Norway in South Sudan, as well as the European Union delegation urged Kiir to reverse Machar’s arrest and called for a ceasefire between armed groups.

In a sign of the fragile situation in the country, the US embassy has urged Americans to flee South Sudan while they still can. Similar advice was issued by Britain.

The African Union, which comprises 55 African nations, has said it will deploy a delegation to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, “to de-escalate the situation.”

Separately, an envoy of William Ruto, the president of neighboring Kenya, arrived in Juba Friday and held talks with Kiir.

“I am encouraged by the possibility of a resolution to the conflict,” Raila Odinga said after the meeting, adding he would brief East African leaders on “a possible roadmap to sustainable peace and stability.”

‘A country on the edge’

In October, the World Bank made a bleak assessment of the situation.

Violence, weak management of public resources and “political contestation” have “intensified existing humanitarian needs,” it said.

And in a report in December, it said that more than two-thirds of the population in the oil-rich nation were extremely poor, living on less than $2.15 per day.

Despite its economic troubles, South Sudan harbors more than half a million refugees from war-torn neighbors Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, based on data from the UN Refugee Agency.

On Friday, the UN described South Sudan as “a country on the edge,” saying it faced “multiple crises at once.”

“South Sudan may have fallen off the world’s radar … but we cannot let the situation fall over the abyss,” Guterres said.

A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday causing mass destruction. More than 1600 people are dead and authorities expect that number to rise.

The earthquake is the most powerful to strike Myanmar in over a century, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Tremors were also felt in China and Thailand, which caused a building to collapse in Bangkok.

Aid groups are on the ground to help those affected. You can assist them by clicking HERE or using the form below.