Myanmar-Thailand earthquake live updates: Death toll crosses 2,000 in Myanmar

Garret Briere and his wife told ABC News they never could have imagined that their first vacation to Thailand ended up being one of the most terrifying experiences of their lives.

The couple from Washington state were in the mall across the street from the 34-story building when they saw it implode and crash to the ground.

"We ran out of the building because it started shaking," Garret said. "I grabbed my wife’s hand and I said, 'Don’t let go.' Immediately, we were just covered in dust and debris, and we couldn’t see, and there were thousands of people just in a panic."

It took just several seconds for the entire building to be reduced to a 7-story high pile of rubble, the couple said.

-ABC News' Brit Clennett, Karson Yiu, Gamay Palacios and Preechaya Rassadanukul

The death toll in Thailand from Friday’s earthquake has increased to nine, according to the country’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Another 1,002 have died in Myanmar.

Another nine people remain injured and 101 others are still missing.

The earthquake and its aftershocks caused damage across 13 Thai provinces as well as in Bangkok, the agency said.

A 30-story building that was under construction collapsed in the Thai capital on Friday when the powerful quake struck the region.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing at the scene, with crews detecting 15 signs of life beneath the rubble on Saturday, according to Thailand’s National Institute of Emergency Medicine.

-ABC News' Morgan Windsor

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted about the potential U.S. response to the earthquake, and seemed to suggest the president meant the U.S. was willing to help rather than actively assisting.

"My prayers go out to the people of Burma and Thailand who are impacted by the earthquake," he wrote. "We've been in contact with these countries and, as @POTUS said, stand ready to provide assistance."

Rubio also confirmed the State Department’s teams in the impacted countries were safe and accounted for.

The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar has suspended nonemergency consular services for the time being. The U.S. mission to Thailand has not reported any disruption in services.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said despite the tumult at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. has maintained "a team of disaster experts with the capacity to respond if disaster strikes," which are commonly referred to as DART teams.

"These expert teams provide immediate assistance, including food and safe drinking water needed aftermath of a disaster. The United States is evaluating the need for assistance based on requests and dynamic reporting,” she said. [14:47:29]

But despite President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. is going to be helping, Bruce suggested the State Department was still in standby mode.

"What I can tell you is that we wait for formal requests," she said. "We are ready. Obviously, we are watching what is transpiring."

Bruce insisted that despite the funding flip-flops and reorganization of USAID, "there has been no impact on our ability to perform those duties, those requests for aid, if and when they come in."

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston