A building in Bangkok that had been under construction collapsed, killing at least eight people, while dozens of workers remained stuck in the rubble.

Anxious loved ones waited outside a twisted mass of metal and concrete in the heart of Thailand’s capital on Saturday as rescuers searched for dozens of missing workers and the city confronted the aftermath of a rare and powerful earthquake that set skyscrapers swaying and rattled millions of residents.

At least 15 people are thought to still be alive and trapped under the rubble of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed after a massive earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand. Rescuers say they have detected signs of life and communicated with some survivors under the 10-storey tall mountain of debris.

Myanmar’s military government said the death toll had reached 1,644, though that number is expected to rise significantly.

A powerful earthquake killed more than 140 people in Myanmar on Friday, authorities said, toppling buildings and wrecking infrastructure across a wide area, including a skyscraper under construction in neighbouring Thailand.

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake near Mandalay, in a country already torn by war, was felt across Southeast Asia, and experts warned there could be tens of thousands dead.

It makes movement around the country both difficult and dangerous, complicating relief efforts and raising fears that the death toll could still rise precipitously. Read More: That Rocked Myanmar and Thailand The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay,

In the hours after a massive earthquake flattened buildings in Myanmar's Mandalay on Friday, survivors scrambled through the debris using their bare hands in desperate attempts to save those still trapped.

In a censored nation that runs on rumor and omens, people in Myanmar wonder whether the latest disaster might be a portent of regime change.