The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Myanmar last week has exceeded 2,000, according to state media reports. This disaster presents an even greater challenge to a country already facing a humanitarian crisis.
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04-05, 2025Aid workers and an activist group said the earthquake killed hundreds of Muslims who were praying in mosques during Ramadan, and another 270 Buddhist monks were crushed to death by collapsing monasteries. The United Nations and aid organizations warned that the earthquake could exacerbate hunger and disease outbreaks in the country, which is already one of the most challenging regions in the world for humanitarian organizations to operate due to civil war.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last Friday and was centered near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city. The earthquake damaged Mandalay Airport, buckled roads, and destroyed hundreds of buildings across a large swath of central Myanmar. Power outages, fuel shortages, and poor communications have further hampered rescue efforts. Due to a lack of heavy machinery, search and rescue operations have been slow, with many people forced to search for survivors by hand in daily temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
At the collapsed U Hla Thein monastery in Mandalay, rescue workers said they were still searching for the bodies of about 150 monks. Tun Kyi, a member of the Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network Steering Committee, said that about 700 Muslims attending Friday prayers were killed when mosques collapsed, and about 60 mosques were damaged or destroyed. Videos released by the Irrawaddy online news website showed several mosques collapsing. It is currently unclear whether these figures are included in the official count.
Myanmar's state broadcaster MRTV reported that junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said in a call with the Prime Minister of Pakistan that 2,065 people had died, more than 3,900 were injured, and about 270 were missing. Aid agencies expect these numbers to rise sharply as access to remote areas with disrupted communications is slow. The UN Country Team in Myanmar has called for unhindered access for aid teams. "Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar needed humanitarian assistance," said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Marcoluigi Corsi. Lauren Ellerby, Deputy Director of Programs for Myanmar at the International Rescue Committee, told the Associated Press: "We don't have a clear picture of the scale of the damage at the moment. They talk about a town near Mandalay where reportedly 80% of the buildings have collapsed, but because of slow telecommunications, this has not been in the news." She said groups working with the IRC reported that some places were cut off by landslides.
The World Health Organization said they had received reports that three hospitals in the region had been destroyed and 22 partially damaged. "There is an urgent need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthetics, essential medicines and mental health support," the organization said. An artificial intelligence analysis of satellite images of Mandalay by Microsoft's AI for Good Lab showed that 515 buildings were 80% to 100% damaged, and another 1,524 buildings were 20% to 80% damaged. It is currently unclear what percentage of the city's buildings this represents.
The civil war has further complicated rescue efforts. In 2021, the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government, triggering a major armed resistance. While one group announced a unilateral partial ceasefire, the government and other armed groups have not stopped fighting. Government forces have lost control of large parts of Myanmar, and even before the earthquake, many places were dangerous or inaccessible to aid groups. According to the UN, more than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting.
The International Rescue Committee's Ellerby pointed out that the areas most affected by the earthquake suffered severe flooding last year, and many displaced people sought refuge there. Since the earthquake, many people have been sleeping outdoors, either because their homes were destroyed or out of fear of aftershocks. She said the monsoon rains will begin in May, making it a major challenge for people to find shelter.
International rescue teams from several countries, including Russia, China, India, and several Southeast Asian countries, have arrived on the scene. On Monday, an Indian team used jackhammers to break through collapsed concrete slabs at a site in Mandalay. They could be seen carrying out a body. The EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and other countries have announced millions of dollars in aid.
Despite massive layoffs and dismissals at USAID (the agency responsible for providing humanitarian aid abroad), the US Embassy said a team of experts was traveling to Myanmar. The embassy said it would provide up to $2 million (A$3.17 million) in assistance through local organizations. A small contingent of US military personnel was sent to Bangkok to assist, where the earthquake killed at least 18 people, many of whom died at a construction site where a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Another 33 people were injured and 78 were missing, mainly at the construction site near Chatuchak Market.
On Monday, heavy equipment at the site was temporarily shut down and authorities urged onlookers to remain silent as they used machines to try to detect signs of life. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters that signs were detected on Sunday night, but experts could not determine whether this was a machine error. Watching the workers work, Naruemon Thonglek said she had "calmly accepted" the fact that her partner and five friends who were there were unlikely to be found alive. "I still hope they can survive," she said.
