TV star Sophie Monk opens up on experiencing deadly 7.7 magnitude quake that killed at least 153 people and injured hundreds in Thailand and Myanmar
An Australian TV star has recalled the harrowing moment her high-rise hotel started swaying following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked parts of Thailand and Myanmar on Friday afternoon.
Australian television star Sophie Monk has been left shaken after being caught in the middle of a massive and deadly earthquake in Thailand's capital.
A magnitude 7.7 tremor shook central Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Friday around midday at a depth of just 10 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.
Powerful aftershocks, one recorded at magnitude 6.4, followed 12 minutes later.
Locals in villages caught in the middle of Myanmar's civil war and residents and tourists in Thailand's capital were forced to run out of homes and buildings into the street.
One of those was Monk, an Australian TV star and a former Bachelorette lead, who was staying in a Bangkok hotel when the building started to shake from the earthquake.
Taking to Instagram moments after reaching the street, the 45-year-old presenter said she was on the 57th floor when the hotel started moving "side to side".
"I have never experienced anything like this. I was just in Bangkok in the scariest ever earthquake. It was going side to side to side to side, the building," she said in a video.
"It was so full on. That will get your heart racing."
Monk also shared a recording of the tense moment she and other residents in the building fled down the emergency exit stairs.
In another post to her more than 700,000 followers, she said there were no alarms or alerts and that no one was giving instructions about what to do next.
Walking the street barefoot before being given a pair of sandals, the former Bardot member said she was not allowed back into the hotel.
She was later filmed getting her feet washed at a Thai massage nearby.
Officials in Myanmar have urged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance, with the United Nations and World Health Organisation already responding.
It is feared the death toll - which stands at more than 150 people in both countries - is set to rise further as search and rescue teams work to find any survivors.
Several buildings have collapsed, including one that was under construction in Bangkok, with fears more than 100 workers are trapped under concrete and metal.
A military general in Myanmar said more deaths and injuries are expected, telling the BBC that rescue volunteers are "digging people out with our bare hands".
Excavators and sniffer dogs have been brought in to assist.
"I have never experienced anything like this before - our town looks like a collapsed city," one rescuer said, adding at least 20 per cent of the town's buildings have collapsed.
"We received calls for help from people from the inside (of buildings), but we cannot help because we do not have enough manpower and machines to remove the debris."
A state of emergency has been declared in Bangkok and Myanmar.
In a statement, the National Unity Government of Myanmar said extensive damage has been reported and landslides have cut off vital roads and bridges.
"Authorities are currently compiling reports on casualties and damage while conducting search and rescue operations, relocation efforts and reconstruction activities," it said.
The government has urged its residents to stay clear of high-rises and other buildings due to structural cracks, ground fractures and the possibility of further aftershocks.