The death toll in Myanmar and Thailand from a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake has surpassed 150 deaths, with dozens still trapped in collapsed buildings.
The shallow 7.7-magnitude early afternoon on Friday tremor hit northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar and was followed minutes later by a 6.4-magnitude aftershock.
The quake flattened buildings, downed bridges, and cracked roads across swathes of Myanmar, and even demolished a 30-storey skyscraper under construction hundreds of kilometres away in Bangkok.
While the full extent of the catastrophe is yet to emerge, the leader of isolated Myanmar, in the grip of a civil war, issued a rare plea for international aid.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said 144 people had been killed, with 732 confirmed injured, but warned the toll was "likely to rise". Three deaths have been confirmed so far in Thailand.
"In some places, some buildings collapsed," he said in a televised speech, after visiting a hospital in the capital Naypyidaw.
"I would like to invite any country, any organisation, or anyone in Myanmar to come and help. Thank you."
He urged massive relief efforts in the wake of the disaster and said he had "opened all ways for foreign aid".
Several roads, a bridge, and a dam in Myanmar were damaged, complicating rescue efforts.
'Mass casualty area'
Four years of civil war sparked by the military seizing power have ravaged Myanmar's infrastructure and healthcare system, leaving it ill-equipped to respond to such a disaster.
Myanmar declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, which the World Health Organization described as a "very, very big threat to life and health".
Hundreds of casualties arrived at a major hospital in Naypyidaw where the emergency department entrance had collapsed on a car.
A hospital official described it as a "mass casualty area" with medics treating the wounded outside.
"I haven't seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle the situation. I'm so exhausted now," a doctor told AFP.
As night fell, AFP news agency journalists saw rescuers trying to extract a mother and son from the ruins of a collapsed building in Naypyidaw.
Both were seriously injured but rescuers were unable to reach them, a Red Cross worker told AFP.
Condolences and help
The quake was felt across the region, with China, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India all reporting tremors.
Türkiye expressed sadness Friday for the "loss of lives and damage" from an earthquake that jolted Myanmar and Thailand, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The ministry offered Ankara's condolences to the families of the dead and people of Myanmar and Thailand while wishing a swift recovery to the wounded.
India, France and the European Union all offered to provide assistance, while the WHO said it was mobilising its logistics hub in Dubai to prepare trauma injury supplies.
US President Donald Trump vowed the United States would assist Myanmar after the tragedy.
Pope Francis said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread devastation" in a telegram published by the Vatican.
Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar, where six strong quakes of 7.0 magnitude or more struck between 1930 and 1956 near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north to south through the centre of the country, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
A powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake in the ancient capital Bagan in central Myanmar killed three people in 2016, also toppling spires and crumbling temple walls at the tourist destination.
