The death toll from the powerful earthquake in Myanmar has reached 1,644, the country’s authorities said on Saturday, even as rescue workers raced against time in search of survivors in the ruins of apartments buildings, monasteries and mosques.

The 7.7-magnitude temblor, which struck just outside Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Friday afternoon, sent shock waves around Southeast Asia and even beyond.

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.

A powerful earthquake has hit Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, destroying buildings, damaging infrastructure and killing more than 150 people.

Myanmar’s state-run MRTV reported that at least 144 people were killed on Friday and 732 were injured in the country. The quake also hit Thailand, where at least nine people were killed in the capital, Bangkok, according to local authorities.

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake was felt across the tri-state area Friday with tremors being felt across the five boroughs and New Jersey, multiple people reported.

Tremors could also be felt across the Eastern Seaboard as far away as Schenectady, N.Y., Connecticut and Pennsylvania, where it shook dishware knocked over figurines and rattled household fixtures.

On Tuesday afternoon at a courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri, the collective nightmare of the real-estate industry became reality.

At least 22 people were killed and dozens injured after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck western Nepal on Friday, with witnesses saying houses in the area collapsed and buildings in New Delhi, India, shook.

We have not been able to establish any contact at the epicentre in Jajarkot, local official Harish Chandra Sharma said, adding that there are reports of 17 deaths just in the district.

At least 20 people were rushed to hospital with injuries, Jajarkot district official Suresh Sunar told Reuters by phone.

Local and foreign Christians have joined in relief efforts following last week’s massive earthquake in Morocco.

Nearly 3,000 people have died, with more than 5,000 injured. Registering 6.8 on the Richter scale, it is the North African nation’s most powerful quake since 1969 and its deadliest since 1960.

But far from the epicenter near the historic city of Marrakesh, gathered believers all had the same question.

The large rotary blades of a military helicopter fire up, lifting emergency supplies towards villages otherwise cut off from the world.

They’re also shuttling the injured and dead away from the epicenter.

An enormous cloud of dust engulfs dozens of survivors and emergency teams who have descended on the town of Talat Nyakoub, at the epicenter of the earthquake to dig for the living and recover the dead.

Tayeb ait Ighenbaz was forced to choose whether to save his 11-year-old son or his parents when they became trapped under rubble after Morocco's earthquake struck.

The goat herder from a tiny community in the Atlas Mountains says he is haunted by the decision he had to make.

Tayeb was with his wife, two children and parents on Friday night in their small stone home when it was rocked by the country's biggest earthquake in 60 years.

He leads me to his former home, which now lies in ruins.

Moroccan authorities declared three days of official mourning Saturday when a rare, powerful earthquake ripped through the Atlas Mountains and the historic city of Marrakech, leaving more 2,000 dead, some 2,100 injured and first responders struggling to reach survivors. 

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI also ordered the country’s armed forces to mobilize air and land rescue teams and construct a field hospital after the 6.8 magnitude quake, according to a statement from the country’s military.