New York Times
International aid was on its way, with China and India sending search teams and relief supplies. The 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday also shook other parts of Southeast Asia.
The death toll from the powerful earthquake in Myanmar has surpassed 1,000, the country’s authorities said Saturday, while the number of people injured rose to more than 2,300. International aid started to arrive, as China and India sent blankets and food for survivors as well as teams of rescuers, equipped with drones and other equipment, to help with the search effort.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake, which struck just outside Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, on Friday afternoon, was also felt in other parts of Southeast Asia. It devastated areas near the Sagaing Fault, which runs north-south through the center of Myanmar.
Mandalay, which lies near the fault, was hard hit. Many of its buildings were left in ruins, and patients were camped outside the city’s main hospital, which was overcrowded with people.
The Myanmar military said Saturday afternoon that the death toll had reached 1,002, and another 2,376 people were injured. Modeling by the United States Geological Survey suggested the number of deaths was likely to surpass 10,000.
The quake has prompted an extraordinary appeal from Myanmar’s internationally isolated government for outside aid. The junta is under heavy sanctions by the United States, Britain and others.
President Trump, whose administration has slashed foreign aid and staff, said the United States would help. Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and other countries offered or sent aid in the form of teams of people, equipment and funds.
The shaking was felt as far away as Bangladesh, Vietnam and southern China, where state news media said people were injured in the city of Ruili, near the Myanmar border. It also caused a tall building under construction in Bangkok — 600 miles away — to collapse in a cloud of broken concrete, shattered glass and billowing dust.
Here’s what else to know:
- Limited information: Myanmar’s junta has repeatedly shut off the internet and cut access to social media to thwart dissent and prop up its rule. That has cut the country off from the world digitally.
- Active quake zone: Myanmar is in one of the world’s most seismically active regions. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in eastern Myanmar killed more than 70 people and shattered hundreds of buildings in 2011.
- Humanitarian aid: Myanmar’s long isolation and its internal instability are likely to complicate the global humanitarian aid response. In a country ravaged by civil war, major logistical hurdles remain in getting the aid to the people who most need it.