Myanmar’s neighbours sent warships and aircraft laden with relief materials and rescue personnel on Sunday, as international aid gained steam after a massive earthquake ravaged much of the poor Southeast Asian nation.
At least 1,600 people have been killed and 3,400 injured by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, its military government said.
“All military and civilian hospitals, as well as healthcare workers, must work together in a coordinated and efficient manner to ensure effective medical response,” said the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, according to state-run media.
The US Geological Service’s predictive modelling estimated Myanmar’s death toll could top 10,000 and losses could exceed the country’s annual economic output.
The quake jolted parts of neighbouring Thailand, bringing down an under-construction skyscraper and killing 17 people across the capital, according to Thai authorities. At least 78 people remained trapped under the debris of the collapsed building.
The deadliest natural disaster to hit Myanmar in years damaged critical infrastructure, including an airport, highways and bridges, slowing humanitarian operations, according to the United Nations.
‘No aid, no rescue workers’
The quake hit a nation already in chaos with a civil war that has escalated since the 2021 military coup, which ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a nationwide armed uprising.
The fighting has battered the largely agrarian economy of Myanmar, formerly called Burma, displaced over 3.5 million people and left essential services, such as healthcare, in tatters.
The opposition National Unity Government, which includes remnants of the previous administration, said anti-junta militias under its command would pause all offensive military actions for two weeks from Sunday.
“The NUG, together with resistance forces, allied organisations and civil society groups, will carry out rescue operations,” it said in a statement.
In some of the country’s hardest hit areas, residents told Reuters that government assistance was scarce so far, leaving people to fend for themselves.
A monk walks with luggage past the rubble of damaged buildings in Mandalay on March 30, 2025, two days after an earthquake struck central Myanmar. — AFP
The entire town of Sagaing near the quake’s epicentre was devastated, said resident Han Zin.
“What we are seeing here is widespread destruction - many buildings have collapsed into the ground,” he said by phone, adding that much of the town had been without electricity since the disaster hit and drinking water was running out.
“We have received no aid, and there are no rescue workers in sight.”
Across the Irrawaddy river in Mandalay, a rescue worker said most operations in the country’s second-largest city were being conducted by small, self-organised resident groups that lack the required equipment.
“We have been approaching collapsed buildings, but some structures remain unstable while we work,” he said, asking not to be named because of security concerns.
Field hospital
Scores of people were feared trapped under collapsed buildings across Mandalay but most could not be reached or pulled out without heavy machinery, another humanitarian worker and two residents said.
“People are still stuck in the buildings, they can’t take people out,” said a resident who asked not to be named.
Hospitals in parts of central and northwestern Myanmar, including Mandalay and Sagaing, were struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
India, China and Thailand are among the neighbours that have sent relief materials and teams, along with aid and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore and Russia.
Indian military aircraft made multiple sorties into Myanmar on Saturday, including ferrying supplies and search-and-rescue crews to Naypyitaw, the purpose-made capital, parts of which have been wrecked by the earthquake.
The Indian army will help set up a field hospital in Mandalay, and two navy ships carrying supplies are heading to Myanmar’s commercial capital of Yangon, said Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Multiple teams of Chinese rescue personnel have arrived, including one that crossed in overland from its southwestern province of Yunnan, China’s embassy in Myanmar said on social media.
A 78-member team from Singapore, accompanied by rescue dogs, was operating in Mandalay on Sunday, Myanmar state-media said.
Myanmar faces humanitarian crisis after quake: IFRC
Myanmar faces a humanitarian crisis and the country’s aid needs are increasing by the hour, Red Cross officials said on Sunday.
“This is not just a disaster; it is a complex humanitarian crisis layered over existing vulnerabilities,” Alexander Matheou, regional director for Asia Pacific at the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement.
“The magnitude of this disaster is substantial, and the need for support is urgent,” he added.
Foreign rescue teams arrived in Myanmar today to help the impoverished country cope with the disaster, and the Red Cross of Myanmar said volunteers were administering first aid and distributing items such as blankets, tarpaulins and hygiene kits.
“The destruction has been extensive, and humanitarian needs are growing by the hour,” it said in today’s statement.
The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for 100 million CHF ($113.60 million) to assist 100,000 people with life-saving relief and early recovery support.
On Saturday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said aid operations were being hindered by damaged roads and that hospitals in central and northwestern Myanmar were struggling to cope with the influx of people injured in the earthquake.
