7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Southeast Asia, affecting Myanmar and Thailand

Mega quake centered on a major city in a developing economy state. Information is slow to come out because of the Junta no doubt but the death toll is likely to be far far larger then folks initially are reading.

So bizarre to see a lot more news coverage about places like Bangkok when the epicenter was on a large city in another country. But it's a reminder that information flows more slowly out of these closed societies

The quake was in northern Myanmar, so the major city (Yangon) in the south was apparently not too badly affected.

Early reports indicate significant damage in Naypyidaw, the new and thus not particularly large capital, and one spectacular but isolated construction site collapse in Bangkok, Thailand, quite far from the epicenter. I presume most of the damage will be in country towns near the epicenter, but Myanmar is dysfunctional at best of times and roiled by active civil war right now, so it'll take time for information to filter out.

> the new and thus not particularly large capital

Naypyidaw (3rd largest city) has almost 1 million people now.

Furthermore, the epicenter was right outside Mandalay (2nd largest city), which has a population of almost 2 million.

In addition, the epicenter is also smack dab in the Central Lowlands, where much of Myanmar's population lives. Around 7-10 million people must live within 200 miles of the epicenter.