The current situation in Myanmar is complicated by a combination of natural disasters, civil war and increasing poverty. We aim to help rebuild these communities, especially remote communities that already lack the basic infrastructure we take for granted in the Global North.
Myanmar aid is given directly to those in need. Do you wish to donate?
By helping communities with education, health and agricultural sustainability the community will grow. In times of natural disaster, we can help individual families with food and clothing.
There are numerous videos on Facebook. The one below is from a 5-story residential unit building collapsing in Mandalay.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1TMYHaJ6KC/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The following is an extract from Myanmar Now. The full article can be found at the link in the button below.
The first figures released by official sources have confirmed a death toll of at least 144 from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday around noon.
In televised remarks on Friday night, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the country’s military junta, reported that 96 people had been killed in Naypyitaw, 18 in Sagaing Region, and 30 in Kyaukse Township, Mandalay Region.
He added that the death toll is expected to rise in the coming hours.
Widespread reports have emerged of damage to homes and numerous injuries and fatalities in Pyinmana Township outside Naypyitaw, the military junta’s administrative capital, as well as in Mandalay Region and Shan State.
Footage from social media showed collapsed buildings at Thapyaygone Market and elsewhere in the capital city.
The initial death toll does not include figures from inside the city of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. However, firefighters in Mandalay said there were fires in several neighbourhoods following the earthquake.
“At least seven townships in Mandalay are on fire,” a firefighter told Myanmar Now. “Many people are trapped in collapsed buildings at the corner of 84th Street in the city. Hundreds are estimated to be dead.”
Accounts of the damage
Locals recounted how the quake had impacted them and their neighbourhoods.
“A fire has been spreading in our neighbourhood. Many people are injured and some are feared dead,” a resident of Mandalay told Myanmar Now.
Local sources also said that a fire had started at Mandalay University, and that multiple archaeological sites across both Sagaing and Mandalay had been damaged in the quake.
Other nearby towns such as Sagaing Region’s Shwebo and Mandalay Region’s Kyaukse and Pyin Oo Lwin—with populations ranging between 50,000 and 120,000—also reported noticeable tremors or aftershocks.
Sources said hospitals across Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyitaw were rapidly filling up with injured survivors. At the 1,000-bed Naypyitaw General Hospital—the biggest public hospital in the capital—the injured were reportedly undergoing treatment outside on the street due to overcrowding.
Local media reported that Min Aung Hlaing visited the hospital to supervise the emergency response.
At Mandalay General Hospital, the wards are filled with patients and people injured by the earthquake are awaiting treatment on the hospital compound, according to an individual at the scene.
“From the entrance to the hospital, all I could see was patients scattered everywhere,” a witness reported from inside the compound. “Some were covered in blood, and the doctors couldn’t do anything. There was no room to place patients on hospital beds because the hospital itself was damaged.”
“In the dark, patients had no place to lie down,” the witness continued. “Even administering medicine was impossible. Some doctors were sitting and crying, unable to do anything. Medical students were also present, many of them in tears. Some doctors were just sitting there overwhelmed by the situation.”
Junta spokesperson Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun said the recorded number of injuries was growing throughout the country, creating a heightened demand for donated blood. His statement also urged hospitals and other medical facilities to operate at maximum capacity in response to the crisis.
Several high-rise buildings in Mandalay have collapsed, according to locals, adding to fears that people may be trapped inside the damaged structures.
The military has declared a state of emergency in Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway, and Bago regions as well as northern Shan State and the Naypyitaw Union Territory in response to the disaster.
Several government websites run by the military junta have gone offline since the quake struck. Military authorities have also ordered that all airports in Mandalay and Naypyitaw to close, with all flights cancelled.
Appeal for humanitarian aid access
Myanmar has descended into a nationwide internal conflict since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, with thousands losing their lives and millions displaced by the civil war.
At the time of the earthquake, battles were ongoing between resistance groups and junta forces in Karenni, Rakhine, and Shan states.
As information continued to emerge revealing the scale of the disaster, the human rights advocacy organisation Amnesty International issued an urgent appeal on Friday for Myanmar’s military authorities to allow aid groups to supply emergency assistance to affected areas.
Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher, emphasized the catastrophic timing of the disaster.
“This earthquake compounds an already dire situation. Over three million people are displaced by the ongoing conflict since the 2021 military coup,” Freeman said. “With over a third of the population needing aid this year, and the impact of US aid cuts escalating, the earthquake has created a crisis within a crisis.”
Amnesty International demanded that the Myanmar military immediately grant unimpeded access to aid organisations and remove bureaucratic obstacles to the assessment of humanitarian needs. The organisation also called on all parties to prioritise civilian needs and ensure equitable aid delivery.
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