Myanmar military chief says about 1,700 dead

Myanmar's military chief has told Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in a phone call that about 1,700 people have died in the earthquake, reports BBC.

He says about 3,400 people are thought to have been injured, and around 300 are still missing.

The death toll could rise, he adds.

Earlier, experts said that the death toll from Friday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake in central Myanmar may exceed 1,00,000.

There was a 36 percent probability that fatalities would reach more than a lakh and a 35 percent probability that they would range between 10,000 and 1 lakh, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The report also estimated a 33 percent chance that economic loss would exceed $100 billion, a 35 percent chance that it would range between $10 and $100 billion. It could even exceed Myanmar's gross domestic product (GDP)._Agencies.