The country's military leaders said on Saturday that the official death toll from the earthquake that broke down central Myanmar exceeded 1,600 as desperate rescuers competed to find survivors and began to struggle in a country that had been swept by the civil war.
On Friday, a powerful earthquake struck Mandalay, the country's second largest city, where volunteer first responders comb through the ruins of apartments, monasteries and mosques in search of the living. As the repressive military authorities remained vigilant, the crew crossed the fallen wires and bent over the road.
“At least a hundred people were trapped inside,” said Zin, a volunteer sitting in front of the destroyed apartment. “We are doing our best.”
The death toll is expected to rise sharply, although Myanmar's military government overturned the elected government in 2021, trying to limit information leaving the country. Preliminary modeling by the U.S. Geological Survey shows that death tolls may exceed 10,000.
The earthquake has raised questions about whether the Burmese military rulers can remain in power, as rebels have been lost in the bloody civil war that has left nearly 20 million people in the country with insufficient food or shelter among about 54 million people.
Even with the disaster, Myanmar military planes blew up the bomb on Friday night in a village held by rebels in the northern part of Beishan Prefecture. “I can’t believe they had air strikes at the same time as the earthquake,” said Lway Yal Oo, a resident of naung lin.
Anger at the military is rising after Saturday’s disaster. Mr Thaw Zin, a volunteer in Mandalay, said soldiers and police showed up at the scene of the disaster, but nothing helped. “They have guns here,” he said. “We don't need guns, we need help hands and kind hearts.”
But the military government also admitted the huge disaster, which caused the collapse of a building 600 miles away in Bangkok and sent shockwaves around Southeast Asia. The military government declared a state of emergency in six parts of Myanmar, including rebel-controlled areas where millions of displaced people live on the scarce internet.
Army leader Min Aung Hlaing will investigate the disaster website on Friday and visit a temporary hospital in Naypyitaw, about 170 miles south of Mandalay, state media shows.
Although isolated from most of the world and sanctioned, the call for help has also caused great calls for help – despite dazzling logistical barriers in providing assistance to survivors, people have begun to answer this call.
Aid workers will have to cross collapsed roads and damaged areas in a country divided by civil war and competing warlords, weapons dealers, human traffickers and drug groups. Experts say the military could interfere with the risk of aid and even transfer funds to Myanmar the risks of complicating rules involving sanctions and currency migration.
Its foreign minister said it had a long-term border with Myanmar, with over 15 tons of aid and more than 100 medical experts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had spoken with the heads of government organizations to help “close friends and neighbors.”
China also borders Myanmar, providing military government weapons even with evidence of its military atrocities, flying dozens of search and rescue personnel to the country on Saturday. Beijing also plans to send nearly $14 million in aid, including tents, first aid kits and drinking water, according to Chinese state media reports.
South Korea has pledged to deliver $2 million in aid through international humanitarian agencies, and the Malaysian government said it will send two teams of 50 people to support the relief efforts.
However, it is not yet clear what kind of reactions some of the world’s richest countries will offer, or how it will respond. Although President Trump said the United States would “help”, his administration has been handed over to everyone, almost eliminating major U.S. distribution aid agencies, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries imposed serious sanctions on government organizations.
Even countries that are more friendly to Myanmar’s military rulers have significant obstacles. Early help sent by India and China was delivered to Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. They will have to travel hundreds of miles north to reach Mandalay and other areas that are most affected by the earthquake.
In disaster areas, roads were damaged and destroyed, most of the electricity disappeared, and people tried to stockpile fuel and food. Dozens of people from other cities in Myanmar also used supplies to pack their cars and vans and then entered Mandalay, hoping to get involved.
Ambulances blocked the streets of Mandalay on Saturday, heading to the two-hour hospital where there is more space. Among the bricks, cement and metal mounds where the building was located two days ago, some people began to lose hope.
“We found some survivors yesterday, but today's chances are much lower,” said Ko Thien Win, who rushed to the site of a destroyed apartment building in Mandalay.
In the hospital, many others are left in a kind of purgatory, dealing with their own injuries and worrying about the fate of their loved ones. Tay Zar Lin, who had been picking mangoes when he started shaking on Friday, fell down and broke his leg. He arrived at the hospital and did not see a doctor until Saturday morning.
He then found his wife still stuck in the tailor shop where she worked. “I pray that yesterday morning was not the last time I saw her,” he said.
The uncertainty extends to Myanmar, entering the diaspora of people who have moved to the country over the past few decades. Richard Nee, who now lives in Taiwan, is waiting for news from friends and family, and he and other former residents of Mandalay. He knew a friend's wife was dead, obviously in the collapse of the building, but that sporadic communication made it difficult to learn more.
He said many of Myanmar's buildings are located in one of the most active earthquake zones in the world and were built to endure earthquakes. “Many buildings are strong enough, maybe a magnitude 6 earthquake,” he said. “But like this time, there are too many things above 6.”
Many survivors of the earthquake already know the fate of their loved ones.
When the earthquake hit, when her apartment in Mandalay began to rise, Suvelin, a six-month-old pregnant woman, managed to escape the building with her husband and mother-in-law. But she said her husband ran back inside and saved their 90-year-old neighbor. Then the buildings collapsed and killed them.
She cried while speaking in the hospital, “I can't speak out my pain.” “My children will not be born without a father.”
David Pierson Contributed reports from Hong Kong Mujib Mashal From New Delhi, Cui Sang and Shawn Paik From Seoul, Chris Buckley From Taiwan, Jenny Gross From London and Hannah Beech From Boston.
