Only one building in Bangkok fell during the earthquake on Friday that rocked Myanmar, hundreds of miles away. Recovery efforts continue with at least 15 people killed and dozens still missing. Determining the cause could take months. But interviews with workers who had been on the site, together with early official findings, highlighted potential problems…
When the earth started rocking beneath her home in Bangkok on Friday, Kanittha Thepasak thought she was simply dizzy. Then she heard an odd creaking sound, saw a lamp moving and threw aside a curtain to find cars swaying like boats at sea. The streets were filled with people who had rushed outside, staring up…
Aubonrat Setnawet, an electrician’s helper, was working with her husband on the 23rd floor of a new office tower on the northern edge of Bangkok moments before disaster struck. She needed to get some equipment, so she took the construction elevator to the ground floor. Suddenly, she felt the ground sway beneath her and, with…
The 33-floor skyscraper shook, and then in a flash it crumbled, its glass facade cascading down into a heap of rubble. Construction workers on the site scurried for safety as a massive dust cloud billowed out. On the street outside, people ran for cover, some jumping into cars and speeding away. At the construction site,…
A strong earthquake struck near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Friday, damaging or collapsing bridges and buildings across a swath of Southeast Asia, killing at least 20 people in Myanmar and injuring hundreds of others. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck just before 1 p.m. local time, and a strong, 6.4-magnitude aftershock followed 11 minutes later. The…
For nearly eight years, wrapped in white and crowned with green hearts, Grenfell Tower has stood as a tragic monument to the worst residential fire in the post-World War II history of Britain. On Friday, the government confirmed it would demolish the building, where 72 people died in a blaze that a public inquiry blamed…
Almost eight years after 72 people died when a devastating fire ripped through a tower block in central London, the government is set to announce that the building will be demolished, according to former residents and survivors’ groups. Survivors of the fire at Grenfell Tower responded to the plans after a meeting on Wednesday with…
Fire and wind are certain to shape the future of Los Angeles as the world warms. Los Angeles had started taking steps to prepare. But there are lessons it can learn from other cities adapting to extreme fire weather: managing yards; taking care of neighbors; making it easier to get out of harm’s way. One…