Frantic villagers cut through debris to save a girl buried alive during the earthquake in Myanmar.

Video shows the locals scrambling to remove dirt and stone as the youngster named Ma Pan Ei Chun cried during the rescue mission in Mandalay on April 1.

She had been buried neck-deep in the earth after her school collapsed in the magnitude 7.7 quake on March 28.

But incredibly, she survived the ordeal of being trapped for four nights and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,

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, along the Sagaing fault.

Residents ran from their homes when they felt the tremors shortly after 1:20 pm local time. More than 2,000 people in the country have been killed and some 4,000, with rescue efforts ongoing.

The quake destroyed buildings, bridges, and dams, leaving many areas in ruins. Communication remains difficult as mobile networks are down, and access to electricity and the internet is limited.

In neighbouring Thailand, high-rise buildings shook and an apartment block under construction collapsed in Bangkok. At least 20 people were killed.