A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, causing destruction across South Asia. The quake toppled buildings and crushed cars in Myanmar, with impacts felt 900 km away in Bangkok and southern China.
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00:00MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE JOLTS SOUTH ASIA
00:12DEADLY DESTRUCTION IN MAYANMAR
00:22MAYANMAR EARTHQUAKE JOLTS THAILAND & CHINA
00:35THAILAND LOCKS DOWN AIRPORT & SUBWAYS
00:48SOUTH ASIA EARTHQUAKE JOLTS BANGKOK & KUAIK ROCKS
00:58KUAIK ROCKS SOUTH ASIA
01:04HELLO AND WELCOME YOU WATCHING INDIA FIRST
01:07I AM GAURAV SAWANT
01:08A VERY POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE
01:107.9 ON THE RICHTER SCALE HIT MAYANMAR TODAY
01:14IT'S TOPPLED BUILDINGS
01:15IT'S CRUSHED CARS
01:17IT'S HAD AN IMPACT 900 KM AWAY IN BANGKOK
01:21EVEN FURTHER AWAY IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF CHINA
01:24IN THE YUNAN PROVINCE
01:26THERE HAS BEEN A MASSIVE LOSS OF LIFE IN MAYANMAR
01:30LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST IN THAILAND
01:32SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE STILL FEARED MISSING
01:35TRAPPED IN DEBRIS
01:36BOTH IN MAYANMAR AND IN BANGKOK
01:39AND WE GET YOU DETAILS
01:41BUT FIRST I WANT TO BRING YOU THIS REPORT
01:44FROM MAYANMAR WHERE THE MILITARY HUNTA
01:46HAS NOW DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY
01:50ACROSS MULTIPLE REGIONS
01:52ANOTHER ADDED FEAR
01:54AFTERSHOCKS, TREMORS
01:56THEY CONTINUE TO BE FELT
01:58AND PEOPLE ARE EXTREMELY APPREHENSIVE
02:00WHETHER IT'S IN BANGKOK OR IN MAYANMAR
02:02THAILAND OR MAYANMAR
02:04PEOPLE ARE BEING ASKED TO STAY OUTDOORS
02:06NOT RETURN HOMES
02:07SEVERAL BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN DECLARED UNSAFE
02:10THERE ARE HUGE CRACKS IN THOSE BUILDINGS
02:13AND WE'LL GET YOU REPORTS FROM THAILAND
02:15BUT FIRST THIS REPORT FROM GROUND ZERO IN MAYANMAR
02:192 POWERFUL EARTHQUAKES
02:21MEASURING 7.7 AND 6.4
02:23ON THE RICHTER SCALE
02:25HIT MAYANMAR ON FRIDAY
02:29KIOSH AND PANIC
02:31WAS VISIBLE ON THE STREETS
02:33SEVERAL BUILDINGS CRUMBLED
02:35DUE TO THE MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE
02:37WHICH HAD ITS EPICENTER
02:39NEAR SAGAYENG
02:41IN MAYANMAR
02:43THAILAND
02:45THAILAND
02:47THAILAND
02:49THAILAND
02:51THAILAND
02:53THAILAND
02:55THAILAND
02:57THAILAND
02:59THAILAND
03:01THAILAND
03:03THAILAND
03:05THAILAND
03:07THAILAND
03:09THAILAND
03:11THAILAND
03:13THAILAND
03:15THAILAND
03:17THAILAND
03:19THAILAND
03:21THAILAND
03:23THAILAND
03:25THAILAND
03:27THAILAND
03:29a state of emergency across multiple regions.
03:34The army-run MRTV showed images of residents
03:38sifting through the rubble of destroyed buildings
03:42with bare hands.
03:45The junta leader visited the injured in the hospital
03:49and surveyed the damage at several sites across the city.
03:54Scientists now warn of possible aftershocks in the region
03:59and urge people to remain calm.
04:02Large earthquakes and, in fact,
04:04most earthquakes are followed by aftershocks.
04:08Those aftershocks occur because of the kind of change
04:10in stress in the Earth's crust,
04:12so some of that stress is accommodated
04:14in the form of these additional earthquakes
04:16as stress is kind of transferred
04:18onto different parts of fault systems.
04:23Tremors were also felt in China's southwest Yunnan province.
04:33Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern
04:35over the earthquake in Myanmar and in Thailand.
04:39India has offered all assistance to Myanmar
04:43in any rescue and relief effort.
04:47Casualties are feared in the earthquake
04:49that rocked Myanmar, Thailand, and parts of China.
04:54Earthquakes are relatively common in Myanmar,
04:56which is situated near the Sagang Fault,
05:00which runs north to south through the center of the country.
05:05Bureau report, India Today.
05:11A building that collapsed like a pack of cards.
05:15One of the worst impacted regions from this earthquake
05:19was Bangkok in Thailand.
05:21We'll show you images of that under-construction building
05:24that collapsed.
05:25A large number of people have either been killed
05:28or are still feared buried under the debris.
05:31People in Bangkok rushed out of their homes and offices,
05:34malls, even hotels where tourists were staying
05:38as buildings swayed violently from one side to the other.
05:42Many were seen running in the wrong direction,
05:45down escalators in panic,
05:48as one aftershock after the other followed.
05:51Is the situation stabilizing now?
05:53I'll get you more, but first, this report.
06:03Destruction,
06:07devastation,
06:13and despair.
06:16Thailand, which is often called the Land of Smiles,
06:20has turned into the Land of Desolation.
06:23Panic gripped capital Bangkok on Friday
06:26after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.9
06:30on Richter scale hit central Myanmar.
06:35I thought I was fainting
06:36because everything suddenly is shaking just a little bit,
06:40and then you feel hotter,
06:43and you feel hotter,
06:44and I was like, I was turning to my boss,
06:47and I was like, do you feel the same thing?
06:50And she's like, yeah, I thought it was me,
06:51and then the light started to fall off the floor, the ground,
06:55and then we ran down to the building
06:57and pumped it a bit more.
06:59The shaking was so intense in Bangkok
07:02that several high-rises with rooftop pools
07:05resembled waterfalls.
07:08Oh, my God.
07:13I was in this building right behind me.
07:16It was a shopping mall,
07:17and I was there to buy camera equipment,
07:19and all of a sudden, the whole building just began to move.
07:23Immediately, there was screaming.
07:24There was a lot of panic.
07:26I just started walking calmly at first,
07:29but then the building started really moving,
07:31and, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic.
07:34Well, as you can see,
07:35some people remain in the streets of Bangkok
07:38more than two hours after a serious earthquake
07:41shook the Thai capital.
07:43Around 1 p.m., the floor in the room where I was staying
07:47started to shake as well as the furniture and the lamp.
07:50It was quite a scary feeling at that moment.
07:54I was at this very hotel on the eighth floor.
07:58Immediately, we've heard that police cars
08:04appeared with loudspeakers
08:07instructing people to leave their hotels,
08:09and staff helped everyone to evacuate.
08:12Debris was also seen falling
08:14from under construction skyscrapers
08:16as buildings swayed.
08:28We can all see the cracks.
08:30All of us are sitting out hungry.
08:32There are small, small kids who are very scared
08:34and they're crying a lot.
08:36The situation is very bad.
08:38The prime minister has announced for an emergency
08:40and we all are praying hard.
08:42Please, everyone, pray hard for Bangkok, Thailand.
08:46One such 30-story building,
08:48which was still under construction,
08:50collapsed, trapping several workers.
08:52Many are feared dead
08:54and rescue operations are still underway.
08:57Help!
09:05The authorities have also brought rescue dogs
09:07to search for people inside the rubble.
09:12Thai Prime Minister, Pethon Tan Shinuwat,
09:14declared emergency in Bangkok.
09:17Several buildings have now been evacuated
09:20and businesses have been asked to shut down
09:22in Thai capital.
09:23Bangkok went into lockdown
09:25after the disaster
09:27as the government closed metro services,
09:29airport and subways.
09:31The Stock Exchange of Thailand
09:33has also suspended
09:35all trading activities.
09:37Prime Minister Narendra Modi
09:39expressed concern over the situation
09:41in Myanmar and Thailand
09:43and offered India's assistance.
09:47Bureau report, India Today.
09:51And just a short while back,
09:52I spoke to some of the eyewitnesses
09:54in Bangkok.
09:55The situation is slowly
09:57limping back to normal
09:59but there are apprehensions
10:00because people can't go inside
10:02their homes just as yet.
10:03Many of the buildings have been declared
10:05unsafe by the administration.
10:07People may be forced to spend the night
10:09out in the open.
10:14Nan Ratikarn is a climate activist
10:17who joins us from Bangkok.
10:18Rudra Kumar is a local again
10:20who joins us from Bangkok.
10:21And Rudra, if I could ask you first,
10:23there was a state of emergency
10:25that was declared.
10:26We were also told that
10:27the airport was shut.
10:29Is the airport operational now
10:31or remains shut?
10:33During this time,
10:35everything is shut down in Bangkok.
10:37And people also cannot
10:39come inside the building.
10:41They are waiting to check
10:43that the building is safe now.
10:47We still didn't take any staff
10:49outside from our building.
10:51We are waiting.
10:54So you're still waiting
10:55to enter buildings?
10:56The administration had asked
10:58everybody to come out
10:59of their homes.
11:01Several buildings were declared unsafe.
11:03So will people be staying
11:05out tonight?
11:06Is there food available?
11:08Are medicines available?
11:09Is that a problem?
11:11Yeah, during this time
11:13mostly they still
11:15come to check the building
11:17that it's safe enough or not.
11:19And we are not allowed
11:20to use the elevator.
11:22As you know,
11:23we have a lot of high-rise buildings
11:25and people have to wait.
11:27They just allow
11:28five people or two people
11:29but come with the security
11:31to walk upstairs
11:33to get the staff.
11:34And now,
11:35from here,
11:36four hours already,
11:38they still have to check
11:39about their staff
11:40to come back home.
11:43I saw a traffic jam here.
11:45There's a massive traffic jam.
11:47Is the airport now open?
11:49Is the airport now open?
11:51Or does the airport remain
11:52in lockdown?
11:53Is the airport still closed?
11:57I'm not sure so much
11:58but in the beginning,
11:59like they said,
12:00it's still closed.
12:01But what I can see here
12:03from the BTS station,
12:04the SkyTrain,
12:05it's still closed.
12:06And they don't know
12:07when they will open again.
12:09They said,
12:11we have to wait
12:12until an hour again.
12:15Okay.
12:16Nam, stay with me
12:17for a moment.
12:18I want to bring in
12:19Rudra Kumar
12:20who also joins us
12:21on the show.
12:22Rudra, what can you tell us?
12:23Where are you?
12:24Are people around you safe?
12:26Are aftershocks
12:27still being felt?
12:31Currently,
12:32I'm in my home area.
12:34And it's kind of
12:35a low-rising area.
12:37So like,
12:38there's not many high buildings
12:39and stuff.
12:40So people here
12:41are pretty calm about it.
12:42They're pretty chill.
12:43But,
12:44my school's in an area
12:45with a lot of
12:46high-rise buildings.
12:47So like,
12:48there was a lot of chaos,
12:49definitely.
12:50And for the aftershocks,
12:51there's been many news
12:52coming in.
12:53Fake, real,
12:54I don't know.
12:55But,
12:56as of now,
12:57I haven't experienced
12:58any aftershock
12:59after the actual earthquake.
13:00So,
13:01I think that's that.
13:03And is there electricity?
13:05Is the airport
13:06still shut?
13:08Because some tourists
13:09were very scared
13:10in the morning.
13:11They wanted to go back
13:12to their home countries.
13:14Are they able to do that?
13:18Definitely,
13:19I'm not sure
13:20about the airport.
13:21I'm sure about
13:22some stuff in my area
13:23that's shut down.
13:24Like, some apartments
13:25that are high-rise buildings,
13:26people are not allowed
13:27to enter.
13:28So,
13:29they have to stay away
13:30for the night,
13:31especially in
13:32high-rise buildings
13:33that are situated
13:34right next to the
13:35Chao Phraya River.
13:36There's people
13:37who cannot go
13:38in those buildings
13:39because they're not
13:40allowed to.
13:41So,
13:42I'm not sure
13:43about the airport.
13:44But, yes,
13:45I'm sure about
13:46the fact that
13:47there were many people
13:48who wanted to go home.
13:49And many of my friends
13:50also are saying
13:51that they want to go home
13:52to another country
13:53to flee the country
13:54because there's
13:55many aftershock,
13:56like, scares
13:57that maybe
13:58it's tomorrow,
13:59maybe it's today.
14:00There was also
14:01a tsunami apprehension.
14:02Have you heard
14:03anything about that?
14:04Were people asked
14:05to move away
14:06from the sea?
14:07Or,
14:08were they just
14:09bits of information
14:10that were being shared
14:11on social media
14:12and not officially?
14:15I don't think
14:16it's officially
14:17being shared
14:18on any news channel.
14:19But, yes,
14:20definitely,
14:21there's been
14:22a lot of stuff
14:23spreading about
14:24tsunamis on social media
14:25and I've heard about it.
14:26And people
14:27are just fearing
14:28that maybe
14:29the tsunami
14:30from back then
14:31in Phuket
14:32might come back.
14:33So,
14:34it just scares
14:35among people.
14:36Maybe there might
14:37be a tsunami,
14:38maybe there might
14:39be a tsunami
14:40and we can rule out
14:41the possibility
14:42of a tsunami.
14:43Okay.
14:44Nan,
14:45if you can hear me,
14:46do people have
14:47access to food
14:48and water
14:49outside their homes
14:50if they're not
14:51being permitted
14:52to go in?
14:53Yeah,
14:54we're still waiting
14:55and now it seems
14:56like somewhere
14:57burning already
14:58with the building.
14:59You see,
15:00like a...
15:01Okay.
15:02Yeah.
15:03We're looking
15:04at massive
15:05traffic jams
15:06in Phuket.
15:07So,
15:08massive traffic jams behind you.
15:10A lot of people are there on the streets.
15:12Can you walk around?
15:14Nan, can you walk around and show us what's happening?
15:17Okay.
15:19I can show you like what's happening around here.
15:23And also they have like a prevention department.
15:27And also like many worker from the building construction
15:32come back home, but yeah, still traffic jam.
15:35And I am in the alley station, it's the SkyTrain station.
15:41It's still cold, no the SkyTrain.
15:45Open it now, no.
15:46And people still waiting here, you see.
15:49A lot, yeah.
15:51Oh, so everybody's out on the streets.
15:54Yeah.
15:54Will you also, will you and your friends and family,
15:58I hope everyone is safe,
15:59will you be out on the streets tonight?
16:02We don't know yet because they don't allow us
16:04to pick the stuff, yeah.
16:08Okay, and are shops now open
16:10or are shops and markets all shut?
16:15The shop, some open, some shut already.
16:19But what my parent and my colleague said,
16:22the best place we should move out from Bangkok
16:25because Bangkok is so much high-rise building here.
16:28Better we should like leave some open space
16:32and yeah, like far away from the high-rise building
16:35in Bangkok.
16:37Okay, Nan, you stay safe.
16:38Rudra, stay safe.
16:40I will come back to both of you for more
16:43and hope you're able to access your homes
16:47and are in a safe environment as quickly as possible.
16:51Many thanks for joining me here on India Today.
16:55In the Russia-Ukraine war,
16:56Ukrainian forces successfully used the FPV
17:00or the first-person view kamikaze drones
17:02targeting Russian tanks with pinpoint accuracy.
17:05What's been a very exciting journey
17:07for soldiers and students alike in India
17:10is the fact that Indian Institute of Technology
17:13engineering students collaborated on this project
17:15right from the drawing board to battlefield deployment
17:19and it's happening in a record time.
17:22This is truly something to be proud of
17:24and a sign perhaps of times to come.
17:27Joining me on this India Today special
17:30is Air Marshal Anil Khosla,
17:32former Vice Chief of Air Staff.
17:34Also with me is Group Captain Augustine Vinod,
17:36both former fighter pilots
17:38and Group Captain Vinod's also a drone pilot and expert.
17:41Air Marshal Khosla, I want to begin by asking you, sir,
17:45India has showcased, whether it's swarm drone technology
17:49or loitering munition, DRDO's Nagastra-1 for example,
17:54all of that technology has been showcased
17:56but does production scalability remain a challenge for us
18:01and what steps should the Indian defense ecosystem
18:05take in your appreciation,
18:06whether it's DRDO, private firms, army,
18:09to match perhaps the rapid innovation cycle
18:12that we've seen in Ukraine, for example,
18:14or in other countries to make this Make in India project
18:19successful and scalable.
18:22Yeah, you're very right.
18:24The modern warfare is actually all unmanned platforms warfare.
18:29That's where it is heading with MUMT concept
18:32that is manned unmanned teaming.
18:33And in air warfare also,
18:36the drones are coming in a big way.
18:38And drones we use in a very, very generic term,
18:40the drones, small drones to big drones to quadcopters
18:45to fixed wing with very long range endurance
18:49with heavy payload to small payloads,
18:51tactical to micro to, you know,
18:54so drone is a very, very generic term.
18:57But the fact which you brought out is very, very relevant.
19:00One is the utilization of drones in the warfare.
19:02And second is having a developed ecosystem of your own
19:07for self-reliant and indigenization,
19:09which is a very, very essential.
19:11And this ecosystem has worked very well in this case,
19:13which you highlighted where the user,
19:16the developer and the manufacturer
19:18all have coordinated with each other.
19:21And it has been a success story.
19:23The similar thing we need to develop
19:25into our ecosystem of other drone systems,
19:28which so far we have been lagging actually
19:31with the DRDO doing some research
19:34and some of the projects have been lagging.
19:36But now with the private sector also coming in,
19:39I think it is picking pace.
19:40And also the government which has been given
19:43is making it pick up pace.
19:47Group Captain Vinod,
19:47is this exactly what our armed forces need
19:50from the drawing board to the end user technology
19:54that's needed in the battlefield today
19:57delivered in months and not years?
20:02Absolutely.
20:03In fact, six, seven months ago
20:05from the Rising Star Brigade,
20:06one of the brigade contacted me
20:08and probably next time with his permission,
20:11I'll tell you his name as well.
20:12So I want to believe I had a little bit of hand in this.
20:19We submitted all that we had pro bono to them
20:24with permission to go ahead
20:25with whatever they want to do with the design
20:28as well as the ability to take it further.
20:33But let's come to the technicality of this whole thing.
20:37See in a anti-tank munition,
20:40you have seen traditional anti-tank munitions
20:45which are A, extremely expensive.
20:49Not only ATGMs, even the guided missiles
20:51which were initially employed during the Ukraine-Russia war,
20:56which found its way to the,
20:59I mean, they were sold in black market
21:01and they were found, I believe in Mexico
21:04and Columbia as well.
21:06But if you compare that with this particular weapon
21:10which you're showing on the screen and that is behind me,
21:15there's a lot of difference technically.
21:17First and foremost, it is like a lightening munition
21:21looking for the target.
21:23B, the speed is variable.
21:25C, you don't have to have the target info when you launched.
21:30You don't have to look at the target when you launched.
21:32You can launch it then look for the target.
21:35And most importantly, and very good thing that TBRL
21:38with the capability of TBRL, what they have done is
21:42to remotely arm the weapon,
21:44which in Ukraine-Russia war,
21:47we saw in some cases that it took out the launcher themselves
21:51because that kind of safety protocol was not in place.
21:54So once India does something,
21:56we do it A, properly B, with a lot of safety in mind
22:00so that the frat is eliminated or reduced
22:04because as being mostly careful country and B, a democracy.
22:09But what really brings to fore, Gaurav,
22:12is the survivability of the tank has been in question
22:20for some time now.
22:21If you look at most advanced tanks also today,
22:24they are in the Ukraine-Russia war we've seen,
22:27they are working with some kind of a tent
22:30on top of their head.
22:32But I'll come to that aspect in just a moment.
22:36For the moment, I want to stay on the kamikaze drones,
22:40Air Marshal Khosla, that offer perhaps
22:43that cost asymmetry also, which is so significant.
22:46A couple of hundred dollars for a drone
22:48or this loitering munition,
22:50taking out a multimillion dollar tank,
22:52but then it also requires mass deployment for impact.
22:56Now, in a country like India, looking at both our borders,
23:00how should India balance investment
23:02in these local systems versus traditional platforms
23:05like, you know, we were to talk about artillery,
23:08our ATAGS, or fighter jets, or, you know,
23:12there are budget constraints, there are diverse threats,
23:15state actors, non-state actors.
23:17So are we to invest more in drones now, sir?
23:22As I said, you know, the drone warfare
23:24is the future warfare.
23:27And, you know, you need to invest and do a balance act.
23:31It's not a question of either one or the other.
23:34You need both, because both have their advantages,
23:36both have their disadvantages, both have their capabilities.
23:40So you have to balance out in terms of, you know,
23:43numbers and money, as you said.
23:46And this FPV or loitering ammunition
23:49or kamikaze drones, the suicidal drones,
23:52these are a family of drones
23:53which are low-cost, high-yield options.
23:58You know, high-impact options.
24:00So the effect created by these is much more than,
24:05you know, at the lower cost.
24:07So these are obviously low-cost options
24:09for countries with low budget,
24:12which has got asymmetry with the enemies.
24:15And also these, you know, weapons can be used
24:18in an urban sort of warfare or terrain, which is difficult.
24:23So like in our scenario, all these things exist.
24:27But keep in mind, we need to invest them
24:30and have a large number of these available with us
24:33and that too indigenous.
24:36Oh, perfect point.
24:38In fact, I'm just coming to some of these points
24:40you've raised because that diverse battlefield
24:43that India fights in.
24:44But Gupta Kapoor, you know, this India on the right track.
24:47Take the product, test it, use it,
24:50in case there are niggles, sort them out,
24:53keep upgrading, keep improving.
24:56But with the domestic industry
24:57and the nation's growth story in defense manufacturing,
25:00will a story like this enthuse more players to invest?
25:05And does that look good for India's drone industry?
25:11You got it right on the money, Gaurav.
25:14Three aspects I want to cover.
25:15Point number one, this is just the beginning of,
25:19you know, we breaking off from other shackles of import.
25:24That's the start.
25:25In fact, with this as the stepping stone
25:29and an example where they've totally or through the list,
25:33whether you're English or French,
25:34as you pronounce it,
25:35the two-and-a-half-bomber brigade from the United States.
25:39It is something that will probably be a test case
25:42for others to follow to indigenize
25:44many other weapon systems,
25:46which I have strongly felt even when I was informed
25:49to not to buy, but to go the indigenous
25:53or in-house route,
25:56because we have such brains available within the uniform.
26:00That's point number one.
26:02Point number two, Gaurav, is the particular weapon
26:07has the great limitation in terms of video feedback.
26:11So you can fly it, say, five, six, seven kilometers
26:15with no problem.
26:16But the moment you go into time,
26:17you will lose the video feedback.
26:19So unless you don't have the video,
26:20the FPV goggle bearer, who's also the pilot,
26:24he doesn't have the video feedback.
26:25He will not be able to execute an attack.
26:28So 90% of these drones,
26:31when they go into the attack mode,
26:33they lose the video feedback.
26:35So what do you have to do?
26:36You'll have to have a relay drone in place,
26:38which Ukraine did it through is the relay network,
26:46which Elon Musk provided,
26:48which also probably, I think,
26:50went away when Trump came into power.
26:52After that, you would have seen
26:54this particular attack profile sort of diminish.
26:58So that shows us that there is a great amount of limitation
27:03when you employ such weapons.
27:04Therefore, Air Marshal's point of having a mix.
27:09So a mix is a good thing.