BANGKOK – A powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,600 people in war-torn Myanmar and neighboring Thailand and caused widespread damage.
In Myanmar, residents scrambled desperately through collapsed buildings Sunday searching for survivors as aftershocks rattled the devastated city of Mandalay, two days after the deadly earthquake killed more than 1,600 people in Myanmar and at least 11 in Thailand.
The initial 7.7-magnitude quake struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.
The tremors collapsed buildings, downed bridges and buckled roads, with mass destruction seen in the city of more than 1.7 million people.
As dawn broke Sunday, tea shop owner Win Lwin picked his way through the remains of a collapsed restaurant on a main road in his neighborhood, tossing bricks aside one by one.
“About seven people died here” when the quake struck Friday, he told AFP. “I’m looking for more bodies but I know there cannot be any survivors.
“We don’t know how many bodies there could be but we are looking.”
Here is what we know about relief efforts:
• China sent an 82-person team of rescuers to Myanmar on Saturday, Beijing’s emergency management ministry said.
A separate rescue team arrived in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon on Saturday, state media said.
• A 51-person team from Hong Kong has arrived in Myanmar, the financial hub’s government said Sunday. The city also sent two search and rescue dogs and nine tonnes of equipment, including life detectors.
The city has earmarked HK$30 million ($3.8 million) for emergency relief support to Myanmar, it said in a statement.
• The Philippines said it is sending a team of 114 people, including medics, firefighters and members of the armed forces. The team’s tentative deployment date is Tuesday.
• An Indian aid flight landed in Myanmar on Saturday, with more on the way.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials.
• The World Health Organization is mobilizing its logistics hub in Dubai to prepare trauma injury supplies and had triggered its emergency management response.
• The UN humanitarian agency OCHA is mobilizing emergency response efforts, alongside its partner organizations.
“A severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers,” OCHA said in a statement Saturday.
• US President Donald Trump vowed Washington would assist Myanmar, describing the quake as “terrible.”
“It’s a real bad one, and we will be helping. We’ve already spoken with the country,” Trump told reporters.
• The European Union said it was providing 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million) in initial emergency aid and assessing the needs on the ground in order to mobilize further assistance.
• Britain pledged £10 million ($12.9 million) in humanitarian aid, with development minister Jennifer Chapman saying UK-funded local partners were already mobilizing on the ground.
“This UK funding will increase support in the hardest hit areas of the earthquake and geared towards food and water supplies, medicine, and shelter,” the foreign office said.
• Ireland announced it would contribute an initial six million euros in aid, with half going to Red Cross organizations and the other half to UN agencies.
• Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it would send a team to Myanmar consisting of one commander and 49 rescue personnel “to support ongoing humanitarian and disaster relief operations”.
Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said the regional bloc ASEAN, of which Myanmar and Thailand are members, “stands ready to assist” both countries.
• Vietnam said Sunday it would send 79 rescuers to help search and recovery efforts.
The Public Security Ministry said it will send a team of police officers and medics, a ministry-run newspaper reported. All were to be deployed on Sunday.
• South Korea said it would send $2 million in humanitarian assistance “to support urgent rescue and relief efforts” after the earthquake.
• New Zealand said it would give NZ$2.0 million ($1.1 million) to the International Red Cross for the emergency response.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.
Myanmar’s ruling junta said in a statement during the weekend at least 1,644 people were killed and more than 3,400 injured in the country, with at least 139 more missing.
But with unreliable communications, the true scale of the disaster remains unclear in the isolated military-ruled state, and the toll is expected to rise significantly.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid on Friday, indicating the severity of the calamity.
Previous military governments have shunned foreign assistance, even after major natural disasters.
Myanmar has already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
Anti-junta fighters in the country have declared a two-week partial ceasefire in quake-affected regions starting Sunday, the shadow “National Unity Government” said in a statement.
The government in exile said it would “collaborate with the UN and NGOs to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps” in areas that it controls, according to the statement, which was released on social media.
Aid agencies have warned that Myanmar is unprepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Global aid effort begins for Myanmar quake relief”