Camille Naredo

People line up for food aid distributed in Sagaing on April 2, 2025, five days after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar. Sai Aung Main, AFP

People line up for food aid distributed in Sagaing on April 2, 2025, five days after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar. The shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28 flattened buildings across Myanmar, killing more than 2,700 people and making thousands more homeless. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)

Article (news)

MYANMAR

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1743958189533AFP__20250402__38TK3R3__v1__Preview__MyanmarThailandEarthquake.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="People line up for food aid distributed in Sagaing on April 2, 2025, five days after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar. Sai Aung Main, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">People line up for food aid distributed in Sagaing on April 2, 2025, five days after a major earthquake struck central Myanmar. <em>Sai Aung Main, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>YANGON, Myanmar -- Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people.</p><p>The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on March 28, razing buildings, cutting off power and destroying bridges and roads across the country.</p><p>Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicentre, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar&#x27;s second city with more than 1.7 million residents.</p><p>State media in the military junta-led country now say that the earthquake has caused 3,471 confirmed deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing.</p><p>With people either having lost their homes entirely or reluctant to spend time in cracked and unstable structures, many residents have been sleeping outside in tents.</p><p>Around 45 minutes of heavy rain and winds lashed tent cities Saturday evening in Mandalay, according to the UN Development Programme.</p><p>People and their belongings were soaked because of a shortage of tarpaulins, Tun Tun, a programme specialist at the UN agency, told AFP.</p><p>There are also fears destroyed buildings will subside and complicate body recovery efforts.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/5/myanmar-quake-death-toll-passes-3-300-state-media-1622">READ: Myanmar quake death toll passes 3,300 -- state media</a></div><p>Following less intense showers Sunday morning, the temperature is due to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).</p><p>&quot;The weather is very extreme,&quot; Tun Tun told AFP, with further rain forecast.</p><p>Aid experts warn that rainy conditions and scorching heat increase the risk of disease outbreaks at outdoor camps where victims were in temporary shelter.</p><p>United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said that food, water, and power repairs were needed urgently, in a video filmed in Mandalay and posted to X on Sunday.</p><p>Many people in the area are still without shelter, he said, describing the scale of damage in the area as &quot;epic&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We need to get tents and hope to survivors as they rebuild their shattered lives,&quot; Fletcher wrote in another post.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/3/lessons-and-urine-how-man-survived-5-days-under-myanmar-quake-rubble-1841">Lessons and urine: How man survived 5 days under Myanmar quake rubble</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Ongoing attacks, aftershocks -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y2NS_p37rjk?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Myanmar has been ruled by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing since 2021, when his military seized power in a coup that overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.</p><p>International efforts to provide quake relief in the Southeast Asian country of more than 50 million people have been complicated by unreliable communication networks and infrastructure heavily damaged by four years of civil war.</p><p>Even before the recent quake, the humanitarian crisis in the country was severe, with the persistent, multi-sided conflict displacing 3.5 million people, according to the UN.</p><p>The UN said Friday that since the earthquake, the junta continued to conduct dozens of attacks against rebel groups, including at least 16 since Wednesday when the military government announced a temporary ceasefire.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/2/with-us-absent-china-and-other-countries-rush-aid-to-earthquake-hit-myanmar-0716">READ: With US absent, China and other countries rush aid to earthquake-hit Myanmar</a></div><p>Fletcher held discussions with the foreign ministers of Thailand and Malaysia on Saturday for what he called a &quot;practical meeting&quot; centred on &quot;strong, coordinated, collective action&quot; to save lives in Myanmar.</p><p>Aftershocks have also continued as long as a week after the initial tremors, with a 4.7-magnitude quake striking just south of Mandalay late Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey.</p><p>Min Aung Hlaing was in Bangkok on Thursday and Friday, on a rare foreign trip to attend a regional summit that saw him meet with leaders including the prime ministers of Thailand and India.</p><p>The general&#x27;s attendance at the summit prompted protest, with demonstrators at the venue displaying a banner calling him a &quot;murderer&quot; and anti-junta groups condemning his inclusion.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people.</p>

Rain is compounding misery and presenting new hurdles for relief efforts on Sunday in Myanmar, where state media reported the death toll from a devastating earthquake has risen to nearly 3,500 people.

Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises

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Rain complicates recovery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 07, 2025 01:13 AM PHT

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