Myanmar's military rulers let in hundreds of foreign rescue personnel on Saturday after an earthquake killed more than 1,600 people, the deadliest natural disaster to hit the impoverished, war-torn country in years.
Friday's 7.7 magnitude quake, among the biggest to jolt the Southeast Asian nation in the last century, crippled airports, bridges and highways amid a civil war that has wrecked the economy and displaced millions.
The death toll in Myanmar climbed to 1,644, the military government said on Saturday, according to BBC Burmese news service. In neighbouring Thailand, where the quake rattled buildings and brought down a skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, at least nine people were killed.
Survivors in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city, dug with their bare hands on Friday in desperate attempts to save those still trapped, lacking heavy machinery and with authorities absent. In Bangkok on Saturday, rescue operations continued at the site of the 33-story tower's collapse, where 47 people were missing or trapped under the rubble - including workers from Myanmar.
The US Geological Service's predictive modelling estimated Myanmar's death toll could exceed 10,000 and losses could exceed the country's annual economic output.
Seventeen cargo trucks of shelter and medical supplies were due to arrive on Sunday to address shortages of medicines, including blood bags and anaesthetics, the agency added.
A Chinese rescue team arrived at the airport in Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon, hundreds of kilometres from Mandalay and Naypyitaw, and will travel upcountry by bus, state media said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with the junta chief, China's embassy in Myanmar said on Saturday, and said Beijing would provide $13.77 million worth of aid, including tents, blankets and emergency medical kits.
The United States, which has a testy relationship with the Myanmar military and has sanctioned its officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, has said it would provide some assistance.
Relief supplies from India on a military aircraft also landed in Yangon, according to Myanmar state media, and India's government said it was also dispatching ships with 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid. Russia, Malaysia and Singapore were also sending planeloads of relief supplies and personnel.
In Bangkok, 1,000 km (620 miles) from the epicentre, authorities on Saturday pushed ahead with efforts to find construction workers trapped under the rubble of the collapsed tower, using excavators, drones and search-and-rescue dogs.
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