A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar on Friday, causing extensive damage across a wide swath of one of the world’s poorest countries and prompting officials to warn that the initial death toll is

BANGKOK—A series of earthquakes rocked central Myanmar on Friday, killing scores of people, causing widespread destruction in some of the war-torn country’s biggest cities and shaking skyscrapers hundreds of miles away in neighboring Thailand.

The earthquake shook buildings in neighboring Thailand and China, and rattled bridges and homes as far away as Vietnam. At least 23 people have died, and the death toll is expected to rise, especially in Myanmar, where the injured are arriving at hospitals in the country’s second-largest city, Mandalay.

A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake killed nearly 700 people near the epicenter in Myanmar. In neighboring Thailand, several were killed when a high-rise tower collapsed.

International aid began to arrive in Myanmar on Saturday as rescuers searched for survivors after a powerful earthquake devastated the Southeast Asian nation amid concerns the number killed would soar.

Rescuers dug through the rubble of collapsed buildings on Saturday (March 29) in a desperate search for survivors after a huge earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand, killing more than 150 people.

It was supposed to be a symbol of power, progress and modernity, the face of a new Myanmar, built at a cost of billions of dollars and immune to foreign invaders and natural disasters.

The earthquake with epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.