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Many Feared Dead In Major Earthquake In Southeast Asia; Scientist: Major Quake In Myanmar Was "Not Unexpected"; Lebanese TV: Israel Military Strikes Southern Beirut; U.S. Secretary Of State: U.S. May Have Revoked 300 Plus Visas; Turkish Tufts Univ. Student Detained BY Federal Agents; Migrants Stuck In Limbo In Panama; New Report: U.S. Inflation Held By Steady In February; Thai Government: 81 People Trapped Under Rubble Of Collapsed Bangkok Building. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 28, 2025 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:08]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, and it will be nighttime soon in Myanmar and in Thailand as rescue teams in the Thai capital look for people trapped in this rubble of a collapsed building after a powerful earthquake.

This is how it looked and sounded when the 7.7 magnitude quake hit about 5.5 hours ago.

Well, you can see people quite literally running for their lives away from that building under construction as it collapsed. And this is how it looked later. Responders carrying people from the rubble in stretchers. At least three people now confirmed dead there in Bangkok and dozens remain trapped. An emergency zone has been declared in the capital.

The quake's epicentre was more than 1,000 kilometres away in Myanmar, not far from the second largest city of Mandalay. The military junta now reports many civilians were killed and injured, and it is calling for blood donations. It is very difficult to get information out of Myanmar, which has been wracked by four years of civil war.

CNN's Mike Valerio monitoring the very latest coming into CNN, and he joins us now live. Mike?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, we have new details on the skyscraper that is one of the most heart-stopping pieces of video that we've been able to see. And this is excellent reporting coming from Nectar Gan in Hong Kong and Yongsheng working out of the United States, our CNN headquarters there.

According to information that they have been able to dig up, it's a 30-storey skyscraper, and it was being built as a government headquarters for the Thai government of the auditing office. And what makes this such a dramatic setting beyond that heart-stopping video is that Thai government officials say that they've lost contact with dozens of people who were still working on that superstructure. The architecture of the building was topped off, meaning that the building had reached its top height March 31st of last year, and many of the finishing touches were being put on the exterior portions of the building when it came pancaking, toppling down.

So certainly, that is one of the nexus points in this tragedy that we're looking at, just how many people were lost at that site alone. So to that end, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the prime minister of Thailand, has just released a statement saying to people who have seen these pieces of video and who have frankly lived through this scariest hell moment or several seconds, she has said to them, the situation is starting to stabilize and it is OK to go into your homes.

But there are still, Becky, images of high-rises that have cracks in them, like when you're looking at staircases, elevator banks, people are saying, you know, I don't know if it's really such a great idea for me to go back into my high-rise building after this generational event has unfolded.

So turning our attention back to Myanmar, what we are looking for in the next few hours is what exactly is the hospital situation? If the hospitals in Naypyidaw, if the hospitals in Yangon are completely filled to the brim or overflowing with people. And that is the fear that we're searching -- that is the fear that many in the humanitarian community, people who work for the United Nations, for the Red Cross, Red Crescent, are reaching out to us and saying they're trying to reach their colleagues and they're very concerned on that front.

So four buckets that we're looking at, casualty figure is the first bucket, and that remains unknown. We're just going by official figures so far, three in Bangkok, three people who were crushed during afternoon prayers at a mosque in a country town in Myanmar. So three and three is what we have at the moment.

The infrastructure situation, also unknown how bad it is. And for the airport in particular in Yangon, that is what we are looking at in terms of the place where humanitarian supplies are going to funnel into Myanmar from China, from Thailand, from here in South Korea, the outside world, from the European Union, you know, parts A through B, everywhere in between.

So infrastructure key here, how the humanitarian efforts are going to take place when you have a military junta that has been in control since 2021 at war, civil war with rebel factions throughout all corners of the country. That is a huge unknown.

[08:05:15]

How you coordinate getting medical supplies when the country is still in a state of civil war. And then finally, aftershocks, that seems to be what Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the prime minister of Thailand, is trying to assuage concerns about, saying that she's trying to convey that the war seems to be over, even though the region has been rattled by that magnitude 6.4 aftershock. So certainly, easier said than done to try to assuage the concerns of millions of people who have lived through this generational moment, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Thank you. You have expertly laid out what you and our colleagues are looking at. We'll let you go. We'll have you back as you get more information across those news lines. Thank you.

Well, experts have been concerned for years about this area, which has a dangerous fault line. Shengji Wei is a researcher in Singapore. He studies plate tectonics and seismic activity, and he spoke with CNN a short time ago. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHENGJI WEI, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, EARTH OBSERVATORY OF SINGAPORE: It is not an unexpected event based on our research. So myself and the other teams in our institute, we have been investigating the seismic hazard in Myanmar since about 10 years ago. So the earthquake took place along the segment of the Sagaing Fault, which is a plate boundary type of fault. It's a major fault in Myanmar.

This fault has hosted big earthquakes in the past few hundred years, and it has been quiet since about 200 years ago. And based on these historical studies, as well as modern geophysical investigations, we know that this place, this segment of the fault, is likely to rupture as a big earthquake in the near future.

So we have been communicating with the Myanmar governments as well as local scientists, highlighting the potential high risk, seismic risk along this segment of the fault.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ANDERSON: All right. So Nada Bashir standing by in London with more now on how officials in Myanmar are handling this crisis. And we have been reporting that it is difficult for us to get information from that country. So what have we gleaned at this point? We certainly know that there are significant casualties.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yes, absolutely. We are still waiting for more official figures. As we heard from Mike there, at least three confirmed to have been killed after a mosque partially collapsed in Myanmar. But getting information from the ground has proven difficult and will continue to prove difficult given the context and the situation facing Myanmar at this stage.

We know that the military regime in power, which took power in a coup in 2021, has declared an emergency situation across large parts of central Myanmar. But again, the full extent and impact of the earthquake, the damage and the casualties that we are talking about, that still remains to be seen. We are talking about a military regime which continues to be in conflict with a number of rebel groups, including pro-democracy resistance groups.

This part of central Myanmar, which has been impacted, has for many years now been a central battleground as well between these groups. So again, a difficult situation on the ground preceding this earthquake, but the earthquake is certainly going to make the situation that much more difficult for civilians living in this region.

And of course, as you mentioned, Becky, getting information from the ground is proving difficult. We know, of course, that there have been severe restrictions enforced by the military regime on independent media, on access to social media. So getting those firsthand accounts will prove difficult. The U.N. has previously described the military regime as enforcing what is described as a digital dictatorship in Myanmar.

And then, of course, it's important to note the humanitarian situation as well. Millions of people prior to this earthquake already displaced, hunger levels at an alarming level. And of course, there are questions around the access that aid organizations will actually be able to have and the freedom that they will be able to have to operate in these impacted areas.

There have been severe restrictions enforced by the military regime previously on operations by aid organizations. So questions as to how that will look after the earthquake. Of course, as you heard from Mike there, of course, concerns around the hospital situation as well.

We know that the emergency services have already said that there is a need for blood donations, that that will be a priority for hospitals in those impacted areas.

[08:10:06]

But again, still questions as to the number of casualties that we're talking about the potential for many to be buried beneath destroyed buildings, but we still are waiting for that full picture there will of course be called potentially for international assistance we know that officials in India have already offered to provide support for Myanmar.

But it is again still early in terms of getting that information on the ground with regards to the number of fatalities and injuries. Becky?

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.

Look CNN's weather team is closely following today's events in Myanmar and in Thailand. Let's get you back to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam who is in Atlanta with some really important news you can use and certainly last hour you gave us some real context and detail.

Let me just read out what the Prime Minister of Thailand, for example, has just said. "We want to reassure the public that the aftershocks following this event will not pose a significant threat," she said. "Residents of high-rise buildings the sustained minor damage can safely return to their residencies."

I mean, clearly, the Prime Minister of Thailand trying to assuage concerns for the millions who may have felt this. A 6.4 aftershock at least is what we have been reporting. Is it too early to suggest that the aftershock or the series of aftershocks may be over at this point? What's your sense?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Never. This will go on for weeks. I think what the Prime Minister of Thailand may be referencing is just because of their sheer distance from the epicenter of the main earthquake. The main magnitude 7.7 earthquake was well over 1,000 kilometers away. And of course they felt shaking in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand.

But in terms of aftershocks, powerful aftershocks, that will likely be centered closer to the original epicenter. She may also be referencing or the Prime Minister may also be referencing the engineering behind their high-rise buildings in Bangkok are built and designed in a way that helps to dampen earthquake and violent shaking activity.

And I'll show you an example of just that. Of course not all buildings have had this completed or may have these in place but this is important. What you're looking at is some extraordinary video several different angles of this where the pool at the top of this high-rise building is sloshing back and forth during the intense violent shaking from this earthquake which mind you was over 1,000 kilometers away.

But this building is designed to dampen a earthquake like this and so that water at the top of the building is actually dampening the earthquake activity that is why it's sloshing back and forth and eventually spilling over the edges. So it is doing what it is designed to do. So perhaps, that is one of the engineering feats behind this building and its structural stability.

We can't say that for all buildings unfortunately because we've already seen the pancaking effect the tall-tale signs of an intense earthquake there in Bangkok, but also further north near the epicenter of course closer to Mandalay and into central and northern portions of Myanmar.

What I want to note here is that the depth of this earthquake is so critical as to what we should anticipate in terms of economic losses and the potential number of fatalities. We've got to go back to 2023 when the last magnitude 7.7 or greater was felt on land somewhere here on the planet.

We're talking about the Turkey earthquake that unfortunately resulted in over 50,000 fatalities. So we need to brace ourselves for a potential catastrophic number of fatalities with this particular earthquake. That is because of the shallow nature, the population density feeling the impacts of this earthquake and just the sheer number of people in the vicinity of the epicenter.

So this 10 meter, or excuse me, 10 kilometer depth of an earthquake that is very shallow. That's near the surface of the earth. So you don't have to be an expert to understand this. If it was deeper the ground absorbs the shaking, if it's further towards the surface, you've got a lot more opportunities for that to sprout out on all directions. Now, there's three different types of faults. This was not a normal or reverse fault, this was known as what is called a strike slip. So the fault line is actually moving away from each other, this particular fault line which is part of the India and Eurasia plates. This fault line is known as the Sagaing fault and it runs parallel through Myanmar. And it is slipping at a rate of 18 millimeters per year.

[08:15:03]

So, for instance, if you were to build a fence on this fault line in 10 years, it would move by 7 inches. So there would be separation of 7 inches in a 10-year period. So that just shows you that this is on the moves relatively quickly and there's a lot of pent up and built up energy associated with this system as well. And that unfortunately erupts into an earthquake at some point in time.

So in terms of population density that felt this earthquake, we're talking tens of millions of people felt at least light to moderate shaking. But when you talk about the really damaging and violent shaking, severe to violent, there's 3 million people there that felt the impacts of the strongest impacts of this earthquake.

So in terms of aftershocks, we've already had a 6.4, we should anticipate a magnitude 6.0 or higher still going forward, potentially 5.7 or greater. At least 10 of these that's just comparing previous earthquakes of this magnitude and what they typically created.

Now, the USGS, U.S. Geological Survey, also puts out this rating system for the potential number of fatalities a very macabre topic of discussion but it's important and to put this into context. Because based on previous earthquakes of similar magnitude and comparing with the infrastructure, the engineering, the building codes, the building material used for the structures within this area, we can expect from this a high level of casualties just because this is the highest level of what is known as a pager data.

It's got a level 4 of 4. It goes from green to yellow to orange to red. This is red. This is a high level extreme event. Now in terms of search-and-rescue efforts that have initiated and will go forward for the days and weeks to come, there's no significant weather in this forecast so maybe a glimmer of hope there out of a very dire situation, Becky.

We don't anticipate any significant weather problems in terms of this search and recovery efforts. Sunny weather, however, just now getting this latest information, this is in Fahrenheit, so we got to work together here. But this is very hot temperatures as we get into the afternoon hours.

Of course electricity is out, no air conditioning. The ability to make ice at hospitals is very challenging. So these are all factors the ripple effects of a powerful earthquake that we need to consider here going forward as we cover this story. Becky?

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, sir. And it's, as you say, it's good to finish at least on a positive note there -- VAN DAM: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- because this is really important stuff. And the fact that the weather at least is not going to make things worse, is that it's a really good thing.

Thank you, sir.

Let me turn to the Middle East now. And for the first time since a ceasefire took effect in November, the Israeli military is carried out a strike in southern Beirut, that's according to Lebanese television. This strike comes after Israel accused Hezbollah of firing two projectiles at Israel. That's a claim that the Lebanese group at least has denied.

Well, Salma Abdelaziz following this from London and a familiar plume of black smoke over the southern suburbs of Beirut. Salma, what do we know at this point?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well what we do know and how this played out this morning, Becky, is that the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli military issued what they called an evacuation order for one specific building that was essentially highlighted on a map in this video again that was issued by the Israeli military in the Hadath neighborhood in southern Beirut.

The Israeli military spokesperson telling anyone in that area to evacuate immediately within 300 meters of the building, describing the building as a Hezbollah target. And it was a short time after that about an hour after that, that the strike was carried out again on this building in southern Beirut.

That evacuation order from the Israeli military sent people panicking. There's social media video just showing families rushing into the streets as quickly as they can. There's also reports of gunfire being fired into the air essentially as a way of warning people to get out of their homes as quickly as possible.

Now, we do have video of the moment of the strike that I want to show you just to give you a sense of the impact of this happening in southern Beirut. Again, as you mentioned, this is the first time that we have seen strikes in the capital in Beirut itself since a ceasefire was agreed upon in November.

So this is absolutely going to rattle the families in southern Beirut. We've seen this very slow escalation if you will over recent days. And this strike by the Israeli military comes after Israel says that two projectiles were fired at Israel just this morning just a few hours before this attack.

One of those projectiles landed in Lebanon, short of Israel. The other one was intercepted. But Israel says that it is not the first time that projectiles have been fired from Lebanon towards Israel. What they say is of course a violation of the ceasefire

[08:20:09] And for the families right now in southern Beirut, the fear is that this is not an isolated incident. So we're waiting to find out more about the damage, about injuries, about if there are people wounded. But again, a strike in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut, an area that is considered a Hezbollah stronghold at a time when this very delicate, very fragile ceasefire seems on the brink.

Both sides have continued to have motivations to keep fighting, if you will. Israel has maintained positions in the south of Lebanon. Hezbollah has not demilitarized. And you're already going to hear from officials from the Lebanese government, from the United Nations calls for de-escalation.

But the fear and the concern is with Israel saying that Hezbollah is continuing to fire at Israel, it describes the target that you see there as a Hezbollah target that it has that impetus and that motivation. But again, this is breaking news just happening a short time ago.

You can imagine that rescue workers are on the scene right now trying to provide recovery and relief and for those families in that area that were issued those evacuation orders. The panic, that sense of anxiety is very much going to be pushing them away from those regions away from those areas. And they're going to be looking for answers, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you.

And more on that as we get it. We will be right back with more. This is a busy news cycle today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: OK, back to the breaking news this hour. Many people are feared to have died after a powerful earthquake struck Myanmar and neighboring countries. The initial quake measured a magnitude of 7.7, it happened about six hours ago.

Myanmar's military government declaring a state of emergency for much of the country. There has been major damage to buildings and public infrastructure as we understand it.

Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia also hit by strong tremors. At least three people have died in the Thai capital Bangkok. Dozens are missing after the quake, for example, brought down this building that was under construction.

Archie Taggart is from the U.K. He's traveling in Bangkok and he joins us now to tell us what he has experienced and seen. Archie, good to have you. Are you all right?

[08:25:09]

ARCHIE TAGGART, EYEWITNESS VISITING BANGKOK: Yes, I'm all good. Yes, luckily, I'm safe, yes. But it's a bit of a shock traveling and --

ANDERSON: Good. OK, what happened? Tell me.

TAGGART: So basically, when the earthquake struck, we we're all in our rooms, like having just woken up and just relaxing and then we feel these tremors in the rooms and everyone was so shocked. And then the hostel staff made us all evacuate the rooms. And we had didn't (technical difficulty) when we were outside that what had happened, yes.

ANDERSON: And --

TAGGART: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- how would you describe how people felt, not just the physical feeling of those --

TAGGART: I think --

ANDERSON: -- tremors but, you know, how were people?

TAGGART: Yes, I think all the travelers here all in the hostels were very scared and I didn't know what was going on really to start with. And then one of my friends Gaman (ph), he was going -- he went to the MBK mall and so he was there to go shopping at night for the day to see what it's like.

And then when the earthquake struck, everyone was like running out, and it was all getting evacuated. And he could see like rubble falling from buildings. And he was very shocked as to what was going on. Yes.

ANDERSON: As we understand it, the Prime Minister has now said that people are safe to go back into buildings that didn't suffer damage from this initial shock. Have you feel any further tremors yourselves?

TAGGART: No, not since the first major tremors but then we were sent out of our hostels, all of us, and all the locals and everyone were on the streets. And then we went back in. And then about an hour or so later, we were sent out again which obviously caused quite a lot of panic. But then we didn't feel any further tremors and we had to go to the park which was a five-minute walk away and be in an open space for an hour or so, to be safe.

ANDERSON: Well, look, I can see you're in the hostel and I know that it's frightening stuff --

TAGGART: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- this, isn't it, for those who are traveling through and for the locals and we hope that, you know, the death toll doesn't rise significantly. But sadly, certainly in Myanmar that may be the case.

It's good to have you. I'm glad you're safe. I'm sure your family will be very pleased that you're safe as well. Look after yourselves and stay safe, yes.

TAGGART: Yes.

ANDERSON: And it's Archie who's traveling through Bangkok. We'll be right back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:00]

ANDERSON: All right, welcome back. You're watching breaking news coverage here on CNN of the earthquake that hit Southeast Asia. I'm Becky Anderson.

Myanmar's military junta says many civilians have been killed and injured following that 7.7 magnitude earthquake earlier. The Red Cross says electricity and Internet are down in parts of Myanmar. The quake triggering the collapse of buildings hundreds of miles away in Thailand killing at least three people there and injuring dozens of others in Bangkok.

CNN's Mike Valerio joining us from Seoul. You and our teams around the region have been monitoring what is going on, and what's the very latest that you have, Mike?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 81 people, Becky, trapped under the rubble of that building in Bangkok that we've been showing again and again at the top of the hour and as viewers join us from around the world. This is the heart-stopping tableau that video showing you how catastrophic this situation is.

A 30-story building, very close to the heart of town, there it is, in Bangkok pancaking floor after floor after floor. The superstructure of that building completed March 31st of last year, under construction by a Chinese company hailed for its feats of engineering, celebrated on social media.

A lot of the images from that Chinese engineering and construction company taken down over the past few hours. But I'm just looking at information from Thailand's defense minister telling reporters, three people confirmed dead at that scene but this is truly the heart- stopping development of the hour.

We were wondering how many people would be -- would rescuers be looking for at that scene when the Thai government had been telling us for hours that they lost communication with dozens and dozens of people.

Now for the first time, Becky, were able to report 81 people trapped under the rubble of that collapsed building in Bangkok. Meantime in Myanmar, we are still waiting to hear from the acting president, the military general who is the leader of that country, Min Aung Hlaing, he was been -- he has been the leader of Myanmar since the military coup in February of 2021.

And there is electricity and internet that is out in wide swaths of the country. So unclear if we are going to hear from Myanmar's acting president in terms of the help that they need and what exactly is the death toll at this hour.

We only have confirmed death toll figures at three. But of course, just based on the images, we're expecting that to escalate over the coming hours. We've been talking about this for our past couple times that we've been with you, Becky, but people who were speaking to you in different quarters of government across East Asia, Southeast Asia, aren't sure how they are going to be giving humanitarian aid when you have a country like Myanmar that has been in a state of war in the cities, in the jungle civil war between the military hunter and rebel groups since February 2021.

Some quarters of the country are in a stalemate right now. So we're wondering if Acting President Min Aung Hlaing goes on TV, goes on Facebook, goes on YouTube somehow and says all of this has to stop. And we need to work together as a people to meet this catastrophe of this generation.

So we're waiting, training our eyes keenly to see if that unfolds. But again, the breaking development certainly coming out of Bangkok at this hour as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is telling people that it's OK to go back in her homes. Their homes, even though we heard from Derek Van Dam in Atlanta, we could have aftershocks for days and weeks.

[08:35:12]

81 people trapped under the rubble so you can only just, you know, our hearts go out to the rescue workers who are trying to do their jobs under the cover of night, trying to pull off a miracle here, try to give us some hope when we have family members and friends relatives who live or vacationing or, you know, work in that corner of Bangkok, were just certainly, choosing words carefully, heartened to hear that it's 81 people who are trapped under the rubble of that 30-story building that came toppling down, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Thank you for the work that you and the teams are doing.

We spoke to a documentary producer just a short time ago, Mike, who felt that quake in Bangkok. And at the time, and this is an hour or so ago now, here's what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TEIRRA KAMOLVATTANAVITH, DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER: So when the earthquake started, it was around 1:20 p.m., so around lunchtime. I was having lunch at home. I was sitting on the floor and when the shake started, I didn't even clicked, I didn't even -- I couldn't comprehend that it was an earthquake because I have never experienced an earthquake before in my life.

I thought I was there something wrong with me. I felt lightheaded and I was dizzy. But then my dog started barking and then my partner who was also next to me said that he experienced the shakes as well. So we ran outside trying to figure out what was going on.

The grounds were shaking so much that I had to hold on to my car just to keep from falling and I felt a little bit of motion sickness. I felt dizzy and I couldn't even believe it was an earthquake. My partner was saying it's an earthquake. And I was, like there's no way.

You know the earthquakes don't really happen in Thailand because in my lifetime and also I spoke to my dad who's turning 70 this year in his lifetime, he has also never experienced an earthquake in Bangkok especially of this magnitude. So it's really difficult to wrap my head around.

And we have this water tank that's a bit more old-fashioned in our house and the water inside was swooshing and it just felt very unreal and it took me a minute to really wrap my head around. And I got -- I started messaging my friends and getting on X right away and everyone was very confused.

In the initial two minutes, I think everyone couldn't even comprehend what's happening. There were questions like, what is this? Is this an earthquake? Why do we have earthquakes right now? People just couldn't even believe it was really happening so there was definitely a sense of shock and panic everywhere in Bangkok.

ANDERSON: Frightening stuff. And how are your friends and family? Is everybody OK?

KAMOLVATTANAVITH: Everyone is safe. A lot of my friends who are in the center of the city who live on -- who work or live in taller apartments and office buildings have been evacuated. I just got a text before this interview about five minutes ago. One of my friends just got let back into the building after she had been evacuated at 1:00 p.m.

A lot of people are still on the streets because they have been evacuated and they have nowhere to go so some of the streets are just filled with crowds, sitting on the sidewalk. As well, major public transportations including the MRT and the BTS Skytrain which is the main mode of transportation for a lot of people in Bangkok have suspended service until tomorrow morning.

So a lot of people are just on the streets. One of my friends sent me a picture of Sukhumvit Road which is one of the major road in Bangkok. And he -- and I quote, he says, it looks like the apocalypse. They're just people everywhere. It looks like it's just a big crowd and a lot of people are just figure out the next steps.

ANDERSON: Yes. And we are seeing similar images here on CNN traffic at a standstill. People on the streets. Just described for those who are watching, who may not have been to Bangkok, just the sort of scale of the city and what something like this, an incident like this means. I mean you say, you know, the transportation is ground to a whole. What sort of impact is this having?

KAMOLVATTANAVITH: Bangkok is a huge city with a lot of people living in it. And Thailand is not an earthquake prone zone typically. We don't experience earthquakes and we are -- and authorities and the people are quite ill-equipped to handle something of this scale.

There are advice and tips and graphics being shared on social media advising people how to protect themselves, how to stay safe and what to do doing an earthquake because that is just something most Bangkokians have no knowledge of. And there is huge concerns about structural damage to buildings because as -- because Thailand is not usually prone to earthquakes.

[08:40:08]

A lot of these buildings are not designed to withstand earthquakes. So I think the biggest fear right now is the like how the structure of the building will hold up after the earthquake and possible aftershocks. And I think a lot of people are in panic. And you can see it on the streets, you know, the traffic is just has grounded to a halt.

If you look at the maps, it's just red lines indicating traffic all over. People are just trying to wrap their heads around what is happening and what it means for Thailand and what it means moving forward with construction and is this something we have to keep in mind now. Yes, I think the atmosphere is just quite still in panic from the earthquake that just happened hours ago.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ANDERSON: Right. We will be right back with more news after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, more news now out of Southeast Asia, this is breaking news. Many feared dead after a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar with tremors felt across the region. Authorities in Thailand have declared the capital Bangkok an emergency zone which shaking was felt as far as China's southwestern Yunnan province.

Rescue officials scrambling to respond to the disaster in countries with very different resources. More on that as it comes into CNN.

Well, the U.S. Secretary of State has a warning for some people with U.S. issued visas. Marco Rubio says the Trump administration may have revoked more than 300 visas so far and more people could have them taken away soon, he says. It's because they are -- and I quote -- "lunatics involved in destructive actions" he said.

Well, here's the Secretary of State at a press conference in Guyana on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could -- you're saying it could be more than 300 visas?

RUBIO: Sure. You know, I mean at some point, I hope we run out because we've gotten rid of all of them but we're looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up. And by the way, we want to get rid of gang members too. (END VIDEOCLIP)

ANDERSON: Well that is Marco Rubio. Turkish PhD student, Rumeysa Ozturk is among those whose visa has been revoked. She is being held without charge at an immigration enforcement facility in Louisiana.

[08:45:09]

Plainclothes immigration agents arrested her in Massachusetts. U.S. government alleges she supports Hamas. Rubio doubled down on the allegation just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

RUBIO: There's a clear distinction between protesting against a democratic order and protesting in favor of groups that advocate the slaughter and murder of innocent people.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more on her case.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Rumeysa Ozturk is the latest in a string of arrests in the United States of foreign nationals linked to prestigious universities and purported to be related or have ties to a terrorist organization. Now the administration is using an obscure law to target these individuals. It gives the secretary of state authority to revoke a visa if that individual or individuals is believed to have an adverse foreign policy consequence.

Now, there are no charges against Rumeysa according to her attorney. She was here legally. The Department of Homeland Security which has not provided evidence said the following in a statement, quote, "DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas". They go on to say, "Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is ground for visa issuance to be terminated".

Now, as you see in the video, she was approached by plainclothes officers while she was walking and it was then that they detained her, arrested her and then detained her. This was an issue that came up in court where a judge said that she should not be moved out of Massachusetts.

The Department of Homeland Security saying however that they had already moved her to an ICE facility in Louisiana. She becomes the third student to be detained in that facility. Her family believes that it is an op-ed that she wrote last year that has served as the basis for this where she criticized the response to the pro- Palestinian movement.

Her brother saying in a statement, quote, "It seems that she has been subjected to the activities of ICE, which has been on a witch hunt in the post-Trump period, against those who support Palestine". Going on to say that the land of the free, the freedom of expression and the freedom of belief are under or rather that they have been targeted. Now, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, did weigh in on this and he has suggested that there are more to come, saying that there may have been more than 300 visas to date that have been revoked. Now, again, the Secretary of State here is critical in the invoking of this law to again revoke visas from those who they deem could be national security threats.

But the major concern with immigrant advocates and immigration attorneys is that there is not evidence that is being provided to justify or serve as the basis for this or at times the evidence that is being presented is flimsy and that has been a major concern.

It is also part of ongoing lawsuits. But certainly, the administration indicating that they are not backing down anytime soon. Back to you.

ANDERSON: Right. That's Priscilla reporting for you.

We get you to Panama now where hundreds of migrants deported from the U.S. are now stuck in a completely different country they know nothing about. Too afraid to go home and nowhere else to go.

CNN's Omar Jimenez spoke to some of them on what they believe happens next.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're on our way to a shelter right now here in Panama City, Panama where migrants are caught in this sort of Trump created limbo where they've been deported from the United States but they also can't go home.

"AMBO", MIGRANT FROM CAMEROON: I left Cameroon due to political issues. It is either I'll be sentenced, dead or I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Life for Ambo as she asked to be called is now this shelter. She's among the dozens of migrants here from places like Afghanistan, Russia, China and more.

JIMENEZ: These are all people who say they can't go home because they fear either persecution or potentially being killed.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Ambo didn't want her face identified on camera. She says she arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border on January 23rd hoping to make a case for asylum. The U.S. eventually put her on a plane and she thought she was being transferred to another American immigration facility until they landed in Panama.

"AMBO": We're asking them, why are they bringing us to Panama? Why are we in Panama?

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It was actually part of the Trump administration's mass deportation plan which it has pressured Latin American countries like Panama to help with. The Panamanian government then took these migrants to a hotel in Panama City, guarded by tight security, the migrants say, with little to no access to outside communication.

"AMBO": Maybe the immigration from the U.S. has come to Panama to listen to our stories. Why we went there, maybe they were --

[08:50:07]

JIMENEZ: So you still had hope that --

"AMBO": Yes.

JIMENEZ: -- someone from the United States --

"AMBO": Yes.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): -- would come and fix the situation?

"AMBO": Yes.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Her optimism was shattered.

"AMBO": They shouldn't just like abandon us like that without telling us what we have done wrong. It becomes very, very difficult and confusing to us. I've left my children back home.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Others don't have anything at home to go back to.

JIMENEZ: Why can't you go back to Ethiopia?

"SALAM", MIGRANT FROM ETHIOPIA: That is political. I cannot go back. I don't have family. They die already, our family. All of my family.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Salam, as she wanted to be called, is from Ethiopia. She also didn't want her face on camera.

JIMENEZ: Is this where you all sleep, in this room?

"SALAM": Yes. Everyone is in a bad situation.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It's one of multiple places in Panama where these migrants are trying to navigate life in a country they've never known.

ARTEMIS GHASEMZADEH, MIGRANT FROM IRAN: We are lost here.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Artemis Ghasemzadeh fled Iran.

GHASEMZADEH: I changed my religion in Iran and the punishment of that is maybe a long prison or at the end is death.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): She was seen in this February photo from the New York Times with the words, "help us" written on the hotel window where these migrants were first taken. They were then moved to a location hours outside the city.

JIMENEZ: Over 100 of the migrants that were sent here to Panama City were then taken to a remote jungle camp away from the resources of Panama City but also, for the most part, away from effective means of communication.

GHASEMZADEH: The food was really disgusting. The bathroom was really dirty. No privacy, no door.

"SALAM": The water is, even when you take shower, it's itchy. You can see my leg. All my body is like this.

JIMENEZ: Through every step along the way, attorneys for these migrants argue their rights were violated.

SILVIA SERNA ROMAN, REGIONAL LITIGATOR FOR MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA: When they got to America and when they got to Panama, they were never allowed to speak to an official that wanted an attorney to hear their story and their circumstance. And so even though they all claim to be asylum seekers, they have never had the right to be heard.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): In early March, the government released the over 100 migrants from the remote jungle camp but gave them temporary permits to find another place to go or risk deportation from Panama.

ROMAN: They might be like involuntarily be taken back to their countries and that's our concern.

JIMENEZ: If you went back to your country, do you think you would be killed?

"SALAM": Yes.

GHASEMZADEH: If I come back to my country, my government will kill me.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Ambo still dreams of America, but has no idea how this nightmare will end.

"AMBO": I don't think I can stay in Panama but now the point is where am I going to go to?

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, Panama City, Panama.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, just in to CNN, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department shows Americans increased their spending last month after a dip in January. Now inflation held steady at 2.5 percent increase year over year.

This is U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge as it looks to make decisions on raising interest rates to cool rising prices. Well, here is how U.S. futures are trending right now. And the picture is -- what have we got? There you go.

Picture not looking great. Investors really very unwilling to get into those stock markets whilst they are concerned about what will happen with tariffs, of course, the middle of next week. More on that on Connect the World next hour. We will be back with more news after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:54]

ANDERSON: We're following breaking news in Southeast Asia. Myanmar's military junta says many civilians were killed and injured after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake rocked the country just hours ago. Now the military junta has declared an emergency situation in the central part of Myanmar.

That earthquake also triggering the collapse of buildings hundreds of miles away in Thailand. At least three people are confirmed dead in Bangkok and dozens are injured. The Thai government says 81 people are trapped under the rubble of one collapsed building in Bangkok and rescue crews are racing to help to free them.

Well, I'm Becky Anderson. Stay with CNN. I'm back with Connect the World after this short break.

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