Filipinos living in Thailand were literally jolted by the strong earthquake that struck neighboring Mandalay, Myanmar, on 28 March, with several commenting that this was the first time they had felt seismic activity in the country.

Ember Villavicencio, who is a teacher in Thailand, in a television interview on 29 March said this was the first time in her five years in the country that she experienced an earthquake.

“Many of my Thai friends also said this was the first time something like this happened in Central Bangkok. It is very rare because, they said, there are no fault lines here. Also, the buildings here are substandard because they are confident there are no fault lines in this area,” she said.

On the fourth floor of her condominium, she recalled feeling the tremors around 1:30 p.m. on Friday. It took her five minutes to evacuate to an open area.

“At first, I thought I was having a high blood pressure attack, like I was shaking. I thought I was just dizzy,” Villavicencio said. On returning to her unit, she noted minor cracks, but her Filipino neighbors on the 22nd floor and above reported more significant damage.

First time felt

Similarly, Malice, another Filipino worker in Thailand, said that despite living in Sai Mai, an hour away from Bangkok, she felt the quake’s intensity. She was with a Thai co-worker when the earthquake happened.

“There were only two of us in the room at the time. She panicked and kept saying, ‘First time, first time,’” she recalled. The Filipina added she just recently came to Thailand and it was her first time to experience an earthquake.

“So seeing a Thai national panic, and the fact that we were on the fourth floor and it was very strong, it lasted for a minute, I was shocked. I felt weak, and I was shaking a lot,” Malice said.

According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega, there are around 29,000 Filipinos in Thailand and about 600 in Myanmar.

He confirmed there are no reported casualties among Filipinos in both countries.

“As of last night, I talked with our ambassador in Thailand and our chargé d’affaires in Myanmar. So far, there are no reports of Filipinos who lost their lives or were affected,” De Vega said.

In a text message, De Vega said the DFA was monitoring the situation of Filipinos awaiting repatriation from scam hubs in Myanmar, but noted that they were far from the earthquake’s epicenter.

He said that should any Filipinos wish to return to the Philippines, the DFA is prepared to assist them.

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake was the strongest to hit Myanmar in more than a century. According to the United States Geological Survey, around 14 aftershocks have hit Myanmar since Friday.