First, a coup d'état ended the failed democratic experiment in Myanmar, home to 57 million people, returning the country of pagodas and jade to a recent past of military repression. Then, a bloody civil war ensued that, for four years, has left three and a half million people displaced from their homes and over a third of the population on the brink of famine. The latest blow to the Burmese people has been a strong earthquake. But we cannot even grasp the extent of its devastation because its epicenter has been in one of the most isolated places in the outside world.
"The tremor lasted about two minutes and then we were without electricity for several hours," recounts a resident of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, who responded to a message on the Signal app after regaining connection following the Friday midday jolt of a powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that also caused damage in neighboring countries like Thailand, China, and Vietnam.
On Saturday morning, Burmese authorities reported that more than 1,000 people had died and 2,376 were injured. International organizations say the actual magnitude of deaths and destruction is much higher. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a U.S. government agency, estimated that the death toll could exceed 10,000.
"We are fine here, but I cannot imagine the catastrophe that must have occurred in other cities closer to the epicenter," explains the woman from Yangon, who prefers not to have her details published because she is using an illegal VPN server to chat. Like many Burmese, she has seen videos circulating on Western social media of collapsed buildings in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, located just 17 kilometers from the epicenter and where most of the victims have been reported so far.
There are images of the outer walls of the Mandalay Palace, built in the 1850s for the royal family, collapsing into the moat surrounding the complex. Also, a famous pagoda dating back 1,000 years has fallen. A large fire has consumed the university, and the city's largest hospital with 1,000 beds is overwhelmed. Many witnesses have reported that emergency tents were set up on the streets surrounding the medical center to attend to the injured.
Some humanitarian workers collaborating with rescue teams have reported to international media that in small towns near Mandalay, the earthquake has left hundreds dead who have not yet appeared in official figures.
After declaring a state of emergency in six major swathes of the country's center, the isolated military junta ruling Myanmar since the February 2021 coup, issued an international aid appeal. "Public infrastructure has suffered significant damage, especially collapsed roads and bridges. We are concerned about the state of the large dams," says from Yangon Marie Manrique, coordinator of the Red Cross.
"The earthquake could not have come at a worse time for Myanmar, where the civilian population is constantly enduring military airstrikes and clashes between rebel groups and the army. All of this will hinder humanitarian assistance," says Joe Freeman, Amnesty International researcher in this Southeast Asian nation.
Currently, several states in the east of the country are in the hands of ethnic groups fighting against the army, known as the Tatmadaw. In other regions controlled by the military, internet access is restricted, and the media operate under strict censorship, making it very difficult to ascertain the real extent of the tragedy.
The center of Myanmar, which has been the epicenter of the earthquake, has been battered by conflict for years. Sagaing, southwest of Mandalay, is one of the battlegrounds as it became a stronghold of pro-democracy resistance groups fighting to overthrow the military government. The earthquake occurred on the known Sagaing fault line, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide.
From the People's Defense Forces, as the militias fighting against the coup military are called in this area, they have pledged to do everything possible to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches all corners in need. "The problem lies in communications because many areas are isolated due to internet restrictions," points out Zin Mar Aung, head of diplomacy for the National Unity Government (NUG), formed in exile by lawmakers who won the elections trampled by the military.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was mobilizing its logistics center in Dubai to swiftly send medical supplies to Myanmar. As reported by Reuters, the U.S. disaster international assistance program, which has operated in this country for many years, will not be able to deploy in this emergency due to the dismantling of the U.S. foreign aid agency, USAID, by the Trump administration.
China sent a team of 37 people, which arrived in Yangon early Saturday. Russia also dispatched two planes with 120 rescuers and supplies. The UN reported allocating five million dollars for rescue efforts. From Washington, President Donald Trump also announced that the U.S. would contribute to Myanmar's emergency.
"This powerful earthquake struck a country ravaged by a deep crisis, with 19.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance," notes Arif Noor, director in Myanmar for the international aid organization CARE. Four years after the military coup ousted the democratically elected government, the brutal civil war is ravaging a country that, as the UN highlighted in a report, is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
Myanmar has gone from being one of Asia's most promising emerging markets (after decades under military regimes, it began opening up to foreign investment in 2011, becoming in 2016, according to the IMF, the world's fastest-growing economy) to the brink of a major famine. UN researchers state that nearly half of the population lives below the national poverty line.
Additionally, UNICEF has also released reports on how the Burmese army is laying landmines "in almost all states and regions" of the country, except for the capital, Naypyidaw, where the high-ranking military officials who govern reside. "The number of people killed as a result of landmines and explosive devices tripled last year, with children accounting for 20% of the victims," they state. "Myanmar is already among the most mine-contaminated countries in the world despite being a signatory to the UN convention banning anti-personnel mines."