As soon as the earth started to shake on March 28th, Than Khe’s family ran out of their house in Kyaukse, a city in central Myanmar, leaving everything behind apart from their phones. They were the lucky ones – only their garden wall tumbled down in the 7.7 magnitude earthquake. Although their home is still standing, they are too afraid to sleep inside. They are now camping in the garden.
The powerful earthquake has been devastating for this beleaguered country, already suffering from a civil war that has gone on for four years and left some 3m people displaced and 20m in dire need of humanitarian aid. Than Khe, a middle-aged community leader, said that the junta – which has ruled Myanmar since a coup in 2021 – has been confiscating vehicles from civilians rather than helping with rescue efforts. “They are only looking after themselves and don’t care about the people.” Whereas the resistance movement has announced a temporary ceasefire, the junta’s fighter jets and helicopters have continued to bomb villages, including in areas affected by the quake.
Than Khe told me that he feels “helpless but not hopeless” – “we know we have to rely on ourselves, we have learned not to expect any help from outside.” To free their neighbours from under the pulverised buildings, people are digging them out with their bare hands.
According to Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent media organisation, over 3,000 people have been killed by the earthquake, with a similar number injured; that estimate is expected to rise sharply over the coming days. Rescue workers from neighbouring countries have reached Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, and other urban areas close to the epicentre. But the quake has damaged infrastructure and phone networks so badly that victims are finding it difficult to get help. The colonial-era bridge that connected Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, with the ancient pagoda city of Sagaing had broken into several pieces.
When rescue workers finally reached Sagaing, it smelled of death: the corpses of monks and nuns trapped under the rubble of their monasteries had started to decompose in the stifling heat.
Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, was one of the urban areas hardest hit by the earthquake AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. opening image: ap photo
Though Myanmar is located in one of the most geologically active places in the world, the death and destruction wrought by this quake shocked witnesses SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
To free their neighbours from under pulverised buildings, people are digging them out with their bare hands. The junta that runs the country has continued military operations against the rebels even as rescue efforts take place SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A mother and her daughter lie on a mattress at a hospital in Mandalay – just two of the thousands of people displaced from their homes after the earthquake SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s modern capital, was also devastated SEBASTIEN BERGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Eid al-Fitr – typically a celebratory occasion for Muslims – fell just days after the earthquake. These survivors offer morning prayers for Eid on a road near their destroyed mosque in Mandalay SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The earthquake is the strongest to hit Myanmar in over a century REUTERS
The powerful earthquake has been devastating for this beleaguered country, suffering these past four years through a civil war
The quake has damaged infrastructure and phone networks so badly that many have struggled to get help, even in urban areas SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Buddhist monks are a common sight in Myanmar, and the country is famed for its religious landmarks – many of which have been now reduced to rubble SEBASTIEN BERGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. AP PHOTO/AUNG SHINE OO
A woman puts on make-up after sleeping in a makeshift camp in Mandalay (top). Members of Myanmar’s Muslim minority were taking part in Friday prayers when the earthquake struck. A woman weeps while praying near a destroyed mosque (above) SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The junta’s fighter jets and helicopters have continued to bomb villages, including in areas affected by the quake
A man in Naypyidaw walks along a road torn up by the earthquake SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A poster of the missing has been put up near the Sky Villa complex in Mandalay. Several floors of the 12-storey building collapsed SEBASTIEN BERGER /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Mandalay residents take shelter in tents. The earthquake has left thousands of people homeless SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Search and rescue operations go on in Mandalay even as hopes of finding survivors fade CAI YANG/XINHUA/EYEVINE/REUTERS/ ALAMY
When rescue workers finally reached Sagaing, the city smelled of death