Death toll expected to increase in Myanmar following 7.7 magnitude earthquake

Myanmar is reeling in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that is believed to have taken hundreds of lives thus far as rescue and relief workers from international entities fly in to offer much-needed assistance.

Ahn Sung-jin reports.

Buildings have turned into rubble, houses buried in the ground.

A rescue team pulls out a young child from a collapsed building in the city of Mandalay in Myanmar after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country on Friday.

As aftershocks continue, the military regime estimates that at least 2-thousand people are dead.

"A very strong shaking started. Ground was slipping under foot The shaking lasted about a minute. When it ended, the walls of the palace and some other buildings were collapsing, and the cladding began to burst."

Experts say that the true death toll could rise far higher as search efforts continue, while there has been difficulty tracking the exact casualties in areas that are controlled by rebel groups.

The U.S. Geological Survey says there's a 70 percent chance that the number of deaths will be above 10-thousand.

Damage has been reported not only in Myanmar, but neighboring countries including Thailand and nearby Chinese provinces.

The international community, including ASEAN and the United Nations has been ramping up relief efforts and foreign medical teams have been deployed.

The WHO has declared its highest level of emergency, while deploying emergency medical teams into Myanmar with trauma kits, medical supplies and other essentials.

"We need urgent assistance, especially for children who often suffer the most in this kind of situation."

Myanmar's military government has also declared a state of emergency.

Despite the destruction from the earthquake, the country's military junta continued its air strikes, which the UN has described as "completely outrageous and unacceptable."

Ahn Sung-jin, Arirang News.