‘That was intense’: New Hampshire woman survives powerful, deadly Thailand earthquake

By Adam Bartow

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    BANGKOK, Bangkok (WMTW) — A powerful earthquake rocked Thailand and neighboring Myanmar on Friday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed.

The 7.7-magnitude quake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4-magnitude aftershock.

A woman from New Hampshire was in Bangkok at the time of the quake. Kristy Lacroix is from Newton, New Hampshire, and is a travel agent in southern New Hampshire. She was returning to her hotel, the Amari Bangkok in Thailand, with her business partner, Liz Milner, when the earthquake started.

“I am fine,” she told Maine’s Total Coverage. “The hotel is fine, but that was intense. It shook for about 30 seconds and then stopped.”

Lacroix’s hotel is only about 3 or 4 miles from the building that collapsed, but she said there did not appear to be any damage at her hotel. The hotel was briefly evacuated as a precaution and hotel officials said there were no significant impacts.

Lacroix did say that traffic was at a near standstill and many roads were blocked Friday.

Lacroix is related to an employee of Maine’s Total Coverage.

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