This is the terrifying moment trains shook on a 50ft high monorail as a strong earthquake hit Bangkok, Thailand, today.

Footage shows the empty carriage rocking as the magnitude 7.7 tremor rattled the BTS Skytrain station in the capital city at around 2:20 pm.

The US Geological Survey said the tremor struck at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), and was centred in Myanmar, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Monywa City.

In Myanmar, thousands of people feared to have been killed as, homes, hotels and bridges collapsed.

Earthquake monitors said a shallow tremor struck central Myanmar at 13.20 local time (6.50 GMT), and was followed minutes later by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock.

Officials at a major hospital in Naypyidaw, the capital, declared it a 'mass casualty area', with the death toll expected to rise after buildings fell and debris scattered.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra declared Bangkok an emergency zone as the quake wrought carnage across the capital city.

Earthquake rescue efforts are ongoing in Thailand and Myanmar.