The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Myanmar has risen sharply to over 1,000 as rescuers dig through rubble in search of survivors. In this reclusive nation ruled by a military government that tightly controls information, details on the full scale of destruction remain limited.
Verified footage shows monks in vermilion robes crouching beside a collapsed clock tower, witnessing another building crumble in the distance. Another clip captures the golden peak of a Buddhist monastery in Pindaya shattering into pieces. Images reveal hospitals overwhelmed with injured victims and widespread structural damage across the country.
As rescue operations continue, BBC’s Burmese service reported screams coming from within the debris of a collapsed high-rise in Mandalay, where approximately 50 people have already been pulled from the rubble.
Myanmar’s military government has declared a state of emergency in multiple regions, including Mandalay and Naypyitaw, and stated that search and rescue operations are underway in the hardest-hit areas.
“The full extent of destruction caused by this earthquake may not be clear for weeks,” said Mohammed Riyas, International Red Cross Director for Myanmar, in a Friday statement.
The disaster is further complicated by Myanmar’s ongoing four-year civil war, which has limited aid access, strained resources, and left millions in crisis even before the earthquake struck. According to the Red Cross, over 19 million people in Myanmar already required urgent humanitarian assistance, with many displaced, facing food insecurity, and dependent on a healthcare system crippled by conflict.
“The added stress of meeting the needs of those injured in this earthquake will place an unparalleled strain on already stretched resources,” Riyas warned.
The USGS, using predictive analysis based on the earthquake’s strength and depth, estimates that a death toll exceeding 10,000 is a strong possibility, with potential economic losses greater than the country’s GDP. According to state media, as of Saturday afternoon local time, 2,376 people were recorded as injured and 30 were missing.
Amid concerns about aid delays following USAID cuts under former President Trump, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated Friday that funding reductions had “no impact” on the U.S. ability to respond, though no formal assistance request had been received yet.
“We stand ready, and we will be ready when the requests emerge,” Bruce said.
Trump reported Friday that he had spoken with Myanmar officials and that the U.S. would provide some form of assistance.
Myanmar’s ruling military general, Min Aung Hlaing, has invited “any country” to provide help and donations, stating he had opened routes for international assistance and accepted offers from India and ASEAN.
Deepmala Mahla, chief humanitarian officer at CARE Myanmar, urged international unity to support those affected. “The situation is devastating, and the scale is massive,” she told Sky News on Saturday.
“We critically need many things, including medical supplies like bandages, antibiotics, and surgical equipment,” she added, noting that damage to roads and bridges was complicating aid delivery.
According to state news agency TASS, Russia has reportedly mobilized aid, with its emergency ministry dispatching two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies. The Chinese embassy announced that a 37-member team had landed in Yangon with medicine and life-detection equipment.
The USGS attributed the earthquake to “strike-slip faulting” between the India and Eurasia tectonic plates. Rebecca Bell, a tectonics expert at Imperial College London, suggested it may have occurred along the Sagaing Fault, which functions similarly to California’s San Andreas Fault.
Earthquakes on these continental faults “can be particularly destructive, as the earthquake rupture is often very shallow, causing a lot of shaking at the surface,” Bell explained. “Their continental nature means population centers can be located very close to the fault.”
The region has experienced powerful quakes before. Since 1990, six other magnitude-7 or larger earthquakes have struck within 150 miles of Friday’s event, according to the USGS. In 1988, another 7.7 magnitude earthquake killed dozens.
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