1,600 people have died in Myanmar’s earthquake as the junta allows international rescuers to enter.

Bangkok (Reuters/AFP) : Following the greatest natural catastrophe to strike the poor, war-torn nation in years, an earthquake that killed over 1,600 people prompted Myanmar’s military authorities to allow hundreds of international rescue workers to enter the country on Saturday.

Early in the afternoon, a shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake occurred northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing. A 6.7-magnitude aftershock occurred minutes later.

The number of fatalities increased significantly from the 144 reported by the state media on Friday.

In neighboring Thailand, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that shook buildings and collapsed a tower under construction in the capital Bangkok left 30 people trapped beneath debris and 49 people missing, killing at least nine people.

According to forecasts from the U.S. Geological Service, Myanmar may lose more money than its yearly GDP and see more than 10,000 fatalities.

The junta, whose senior general issued a rare appeal for foreign aid on Friday, said the earthquake destroyed buildings, bridges, and highways across Myanmar.

“Search and rescue operations are currently being carried out in the affected areas,” the junta stated in a statement posted on state media on Saturday.

Hundreds of kilometers from the heavily devastated cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw, the nation’s purpose-built capital, where portions of a 1,000-bed hospital were wrecked, a Chinese rescue team reached Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial center.