RESCUERS SCRAMBLE TO FIND SURVIVORS AS MYANMAR-THAILAND QUAKE TOLL HITS 1,700

Sun 30 March 2025:

The search for survivors continues in Myanmar, where some 1,700 people have been confirmed dead after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Friday.

At least 17 more deaths have been reported in neighbouring Thailand’s capital Bangkok, some 1,000km (620 miles) from the epicentre of the quake.

The quake destroyed buildings, bridges and roads across swaths of Myanmar. Many believe the true scale of the disaster has yet to emerge due to patchy communications in remote areas.

It hit a nation already in chaos with a civil war that has escalated since the 2021 military coup, which toppled the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked a nationwide armed uprising.

The smell of decaying bodies is everywhere in Sagaing, the city closest to the epicentre of the devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday.

“Now with every gust of wind, the smell of dead bodies fills the air,” Thar Nge, a resident of Sagaing, told Al Jazeera.

“At this point, more bodies are being recovered than survivors,” Thar Nge said, explaining how rescue workers from nearby Mandalay had just arrived in Sagaing earlier in the day, after the Yadanabon Bridge, spanning the Irrawaddy River, reopened.

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Foreign rescue teams, aid pour into Myanmar

Here are just some of the foreign aid efforts under way:

China sent an 82-person team of rescuers on Saturday, while a separate rescue team arrived in Myanmar’s commercial hub, Yangon, on the same day, according to state media.
A 51-person team, two search and rescue dogs, equipment, and life detectors have been sent from Hong Kong.
An Indian aid flight landed in Myanmar yesterday, with four more aircraft being sent, including a field hospital, as well as two navy ships, according to officials.
South Korea has pledged $2m in humanitarian assistance.
Vietnam says it will send 79 rescuers to help with search and recovery efforts.
The Philippines says it is sending a team of 114, including medics, firefighters and members of the armed forces.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said it would send a team of one commander and 49 rescue personnel.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said it has flown in 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon.
The UK has pledged 10 million pounds ($12.9m) in humanitarian aid.

Many Myanmar schools still unsafe after earthquake, says Save the Children

The international NGO has released a statement saying that, along with partners, it is “providing lifesaving aid in earthquake affected areas in Myanmar with an immediate need for water, food and health care services for children and their families”.

“Hospitals and clinics are reportedly overwhelmed with thousands of injured people, and families have been seeking shelter in monasteries, football fields and other open spaces, due to fear of aftershocks”, Save the Children said.

It said the affected regions of Myanmar are home to more than 28 million people – about half of Myanmar’s population – including an estimated 6.7 million children.

In Thailand, it said “many schools and other buildings are still unsafe to use after the earthquake, potentially impacting the education of thousands of children” and that 28,000 displaced children live on the Thai-Myanmar border.

“Lifesaving aid is the urgent priority, but providing mental health support to survivors, especially children, is also crucial,” said Jeremy Stoner, the organisation’s acting Asia regional director.

What causes earthquakes?

The Earth is made up of three parts: a molten, mostly metallic core at the centre, surrounded by a hot, nearly solid layer of rock called the mantle, with a jigsaw-like crust on the outside that is made up of constantly shifting tectonic plates.

This movement of the plates on the slippery mantle, at different speeds and in different directions, causes energy to build up.

The release of this energy causes the intense shaking of the planet’s surface that we call an earthquake.

When the energy is released below the ocean, it creates a series of huge waves known as a tsunami.

Aftershocks are triggered “because of changes to stress in the Earth from the main shock,” according to Will Yeck, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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