More than 1,000 people lost their lives in Burma in the powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.7 which struck the region on Friday March 28 and also bereaved Thailand, according to a new assessment of the authorities on Saturday, while help multiply the efforts to seek survivors.
The shallow earthquake occurred on Friday in the northwest of the Burmese city of Sagaing (center) around 12:50 p.m. in Burma and 1:20 p.m. in Thailand, followed by a magnitude of 6.4 (then revised at 6.7) a few minutes later.
The tremors caused scenes of chaos and desolation in Burma, where the collapse of houses, buildings, bridges or religious sites raises fears of a large -scale disaster in a country made exsangue by the civil conflict which has lasted since the coup d’etat of the 2021 junta. An earthquake of such intensity had not struck the Burma for decades Americans, the tremors being powerful enough to sow terror 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter, among millions of inhabitants of Bangkok where earthquakes are rarely felt.
At least 1,002 people were killed, and 2,376 injured in Burma, the mostly in the Mandalay region, the second city in Burma, said on Saturday, March 29, March 29, considered the most disaster area. But the means of communication being damaged, the extent of the disaster is still difficult to assess, and the human assessment could still strongly worsen.
In Mandalay, AFP journalists have seen a pagoda for several centuries reduced to the state of ruins. “It started to shake, then it became serious,” said a soldier at a checkpoint outside the temple. “The monastery was also collapsed. A monk died. There are a few wounded, we got out of the rubble and led them to the hospital.”
Near Mandalay airport, security guards have repressed journalists. “It’s closed since yesterday (Friday),” said one of them. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was injured.” The destruction on the site could complicate rescue operations in a country, where the civil war which has lasted since the coup of February 1, 2021 decimated the health system and isolated its leaders from the rest of the world.
Emergency
The head of the junta min Aung Hlaing launched a rare call for international aid, inviting “any country, any organization” to come and bring their help. In the past, military regimes was reluctant to request support from abroad after natural disasters.
Authorities have declared the state of emergency in the six most affected regions. In a hospital in the capital Naycyidaw, hundreds of injured were taken care of outside due to the damage suffered by the building, AFP journalists said on Friday.
A plane loaded with hygiene kits, blankets, food and other basic necessities landed on Saturday in Rangoun, from India. China has announced the sending of a team of 82 rescuers. France, the European Union and Indonesia have also offered their assistance, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the triggering of its emergency management system.
“We will help them […] This is terrible what is going on, “said US President Donald Trump on Friday. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba transmitted his condolences to the victims in Burma and Thailand, while Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message to” his deep sadness “to the head of the junta.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that Burma was absolutely not prepared to face a disaster of this magnitude. The civil conflict moved some 3.5 million people, according to the United Nations, which warned at the end of January that 15 million Burmese risked suffering from hunger in 2025, even before the earthquake occurred.
The results could also increase in Thailand
On the other side of the border, in Thailand, rescuers took turns overnight in search of survivors in the rubble of a building under construction of 30 floors which collapsed in Bangkok in a few seconds under the effect of tremors. The fall of the tower swallowed dozens of workers, trapped in a mountain of rubble and deformed steel beams.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told AFP that a dozen people had been killed in the Thai capital, most of them on the construction site, but warned that the balance sheet could increase. The rescue operation has deployed thermal imaging drones looking for signs of life among the rubble, the authorities thinking that they have detected signs of life of at least 15 people.
The Bangkok metropolis has ordered the deployment of more than a hundred specialists to control the safety of buildings, after receiving more than 2,000 damage reports. About 400 people spent the night from Friday to Saturday in open parks due to the emergency, their homes not being safe enough to return, according to the governor.
In Bangkok, where earthquakes are extremely rare, tremors were illustrated by spectacular images: crowd of inhabitants evacuated in the streets, or pools on the roof of buildings or hotels that overflow. A woman had to give birth in the open air after being evacuated from a hospital. A surgeon also continued to operate a patient outside, after it was necessary to leave the block urgently, a spokesperson told AFP.