The number of victim has been increasing rapidly. The Earthquake Center at the U.S. Geological Survey says there is a possibility it might end up being tens of thousand of deaths. Here is a chart from that site:
This partially reminds me of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria a couple years ago where a great many of the deaths were the result of non-enforced building codes.
And I recall it from decades ago too, it keeps happening. And yes; unenforced or nonexistent earthquake building codes tend to be the reason you get thousand+ death tolls from earthquakes. Although this was a very powerful one and would have done plenty of harm anyway; a “once in a century” quake for the region..
Something I saw mentioned on another board is that Bangkok is built on soft alluvial clay, which amplifies the effects of an earthquake. Looking it up it’s an issue that’s been known a long time but there’s a limited amount they can do about it short of moving the city.
I think part of the disconnect is that in cities in other parts of the world, the vast majority of “skyscrapers” in the dense areas are hotels and condominiums. Not office buildings.
You would expect nearly every hotel or condo to have a pool someplace. Downtown land being at a price premium, it probably won’t be next to the building.
The repeated sloshing would suggest a pool rather than a tank. A tank would not be open at the top. Repeated sloshing out of a tank would require the top to be breached but not spreading lower down.
Not that any of the other 1000+ deaths were somehow less but I really felt the terror of the workmen at the high-rise building under construction. They probably knew they were dead at the first shake of the building.
I just saw a montage on NYTimes and while it was incredibly sad watching a group of monks watching their own monastery collapse, I got a wry chuckle that even monks
It’s understandable that they would, but my first reaction was “Why are you being bystanders rather than helping other people, or at least praying?” I think that about a lot of people under these circumstances, but especially those who are being supported by charity to pray for everyone’s wellbeing, enlightenment, getting off the Wheel, etc.
A good friend in Yangon was fortunately unharmed. She says:
“We felt the tremors here, quite rough. The major areas were up country. Death toll still rising and we have only four hours of electricity each day.”
The death toll from the massive earthquake that hit Myanmar nearly a week ago rose Thursday to 3,085 as search and rescue teams found more bodies, the military-led government said, and humanitarian aid groups scrambled to provide survivors medical care and shelter.
In a short statement, the military said another 4,715 people have been injured and 341 are missing.
I find it very odd that only 341 are listed as missing. Remember that in the big natural disasters in the U.S. huge numbers are usually mentioned as missing–and the number comes down as there are a lot of duplicates and people who have lost communications abilities. In Myanmar there are still a lot of people probably buried in the rubble of buildings, a lot missing in remote rural areas and a lot in areas under the control of rebel groups.
A report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper published on Saturday said the quake’s death toll had reached 3,726, with 5,105 people injured and 129 still missing. It said 1,975 international rescuers and medical workers from 25 countries had collaborated with local rescuers in saving 653 people and recovering 753 bodies from under rubble.
Myanma Alinn said 65,096 houses and buildings, 2,514 schools, 4,317 Buddhist monasterial living quarters, 6,027 pagodas and temples, 350 hospitals and clinics, 170 bridges, 586 dams and 203 sections of the country’s main highway were damaged by the earthquake.
