Triangle Thai community reflect on deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake: 'It's very traumatizing'

CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- ABC11 spoke with several members of the Triangle's Thai community after this weekend's deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake that rocked both Thailand and Myanmar. While the epicenter of the quake was in central Myanmar, Thailand's capital, Bangkok, saw significant damage some 700 miles away.

"It's very traumatizing, the people. To me, not knowing things in the first couple of hours and what's going on," said Nat Jirasawad, owner of popular Cary ice cream shop Sugar Koi.

Jirasawad moved to the Triangle from Bangkok 26 years ago, but his parents and close family still live in the city. He told ABC11 he knew nothing of the earthquake before waking up early Friday morning and checking his phone.

"There's about a thousand messages all at once from different groups of friends and family, I started reading it and then I wake up, I fully wake up right then," he said.

Jirasawad said his parents had to run out of their family home due to the force of the earthquake.

"So, they run outside without shoes. And then my dad goes, 'Oh, this is the worst one we've ever had in his life, '" he said.

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At Thai restaurant Thai 54 in Morrisville, it's been a similar experience for owner Philippe Charoensawadsiri for the last 48 hours.

"It was pretty chilling that you woke up, and you saw what happened on the other side of the world," Charoensawadsiri said.

Charoensawadsiri lived in Bangkok for 15 years growing up, before settling in the Triangle. He said he couldn't remember the last time a major earthquake impacted the city, and that many of his relatives didn't know how to react. According to ABC News, it's the largest earthquake to hit the region in more than a century.

"A lot of people have never been in an earthquake situation before, so everyone was pretty panicked," he said.