When the Earth started swinging under her home in Bangkok on Friday, Kanittha ThePasak thought she was simply dizziness. Then she heard an unusual creaking sound, saw the lamp moving and threw her curtain to find cars swing like boats at sea.
The streets were filled with people who rushed outside, staring at residential buildings, a glass office tower and an unfinished construction around them. Now Mrs. Kanittha barely imagines that she returns to the office where he spends most of her days. It is located on the 29th floor.
“I’m crazy, I’m worried,” she said. “Thai people do not have a basic understanding of earthquakes because we never experience them.”
The quake that devastated the Mjanmar on Friday has done far less damage in neighboring Thailand, but the pure force – with a magnitude of 7.7 – emptied Bangkok, the city of Towers, to the streets. Sunday, two days later, as Thai government and engineers examined Hundreds of damaged structures to ensure that they can occupy them are still darkened thoughts of routines that are increasingly involving life and working on a dozen stories above the ground.
The most assigned scene of a disaster in Thailand came from the complete collapse of the Bangkok building, which was under construction. At least 11 workers have been reported dead since Sunday, and about 75 still without responsibility, the rescue crews continued to pull carefully on ruins with a dozen excavators and eight dogs dressed to find dead and live.
Andy Redmond, a member of the K9 team, said all the signals on Sunday pointed to the staff, with the smell so irresistible that dogs fought to find individual remains.
“It’s a learning curve,” he said, resting between the searches that held him in the place of Friday afternoon. “You can’t train for this.”
A video of a dramatic fall of the building seems to have been imprinted in their heads to many, changing the residents see their city. For about a decade, Bangkok was on the move, up and outward, with a constructional flourishing, triggered by the spread of its subway and skytrain.
But now, with at least a dozen cranes hovering over the outline, the gray skeletons of steel and concrete that once signaled economic growth have taken on ominous quality.
Somreutal Nilbanjong, 34, found herself on Sunday afternoon as she watched one such building as she walked home. When asked what she thinks, she said, “It’s only scares me to look at it.”
A small building lift climbed to the outside through the pink scaffolding. She moved through the phone until she found a photo of the Ruševina Mountain several kilometers – a demolished building, Bangkok’s zero.
Gusks appeared on her hands, and she shuddered.
“I’m afraid it will happen again,” she said.
Government officials tried to calm people’s nerves and update people.
Immediately after the earthquake on Friday, the Thai Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, issued an urgent warning by warning people to be careful about the next 24 hours.
By that evening, she sought to convince the public, announcing that the situation stabilized and that the residents could return to their homes.
On Saturday, she rode the elevated Bangkok rail, known as Skytrain to show that the trains were safe. The system was closed after an earthquake and examined before most of the lines were reopened.
But even while the city re-appeared according to the normality-trade centers and markets full, trains piercing the streets full of motorcycles-Many struggle to deal with something they thought had only happened in other places, such as Japan or Taiwan.
Mrs. Kanittha said the experience was so confusing that her mind ran into memories of what she saw in Japanese comics or manga, with animated disasters.
Many said they were not scared, but that they were forced to ask unexpected questions: behind the glass facades, are the buildings really safe? What if there are cracks that cannot be seen? What if there is a giant form?
Jiraporn Jaichob, 41, owner of a drink that had lunch when Temblor hit, said he was making plans for future disasters.
She had been thinking about buying a transistor radio since she saw that her cellphone coverage was descended. She also created a bag for his family with key documents and stocks.
“With this earthquake, we learned that we do not know what could happen in a certain day,” she said.
“We can die anytime, anywhere, I know, that’s our destiny,” she added. “But at least we take care of our lives where we can.”
In 2007, Thailand upgraded its construction code resistant to earthquake, and experts said that the vast majority of city buildings are obviously strong enough to endure what should still be considered a rare seismic event. However, some engineers have called for more supervision and potential upgrade in standards and implementation.
“Look at Japan – they continue to develop their laws and design,” said Suchanvee Suwansawat, a professor of construction at King Mongkut University and former president of the Thai engineer. “That’s what we should do.”
The collapse of the 30 floor building, which went next to the market center and a popular weekend, could be a turning point. It was never necessary to score, said Dr. Suchatvea, suggesting that something went wrong in design, execution or supervision.
Four years of construction, was built by a Chinese state -owned company, Chinese railway 10. Engineering group. The Thai government promised to explore and report wounds in the week.
But like other scary buildings – Condo Tower in Surfside, Florida, in which 98 people were killed in 2021; Or descending the World Trade Center from the Terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 – it seems that the destruction toll will be retained.
Until the dusk on Sunday, shock, sadness and dust were mixed in the air at the scene of the collapse, where a large crowd gathered. Volunteers of the rescuers from the police and the army who carried the overalls biking also cycled outside the area. At one point, the crane kept two observers at the top of the mountain of the ruins, while men in yellow hats stared from below.
On Obod, the father of Pakistani worker told reporters that people pray in the temples across Thailand and hoped that at least half of the workers would come out alive.
Aubonrat Setnawet also hoped for good news about his husband. He was on the 23rd floor of the building when the earthquake hit; And she was there, working, but on the ground floor, not far from where she sat on Sunday in a soft plastic chair near the hard metal fence.
“No update,” she said quietly. All she could point out was more relatives beside her, because noisy grinding of the diggers and trucks filled the air.
At the market across the street, Jatupol Sawangphanich, 42, put a ribbon over the slit of a metal grille that protects its tropical fish business.
“Every time they raise the ruins, the dust flies in that direction,” he said.
In addition to him, the lights of the usually hectic market center became dark. Its structural integrity still had to be tested.
“That happened all over Bangkok,” he said. “I would rather not enter the tall buildings.”
