Myanmar and Thailand earthquake live: race to find survivors as huge rise in death toll confirmed
What we know so far
It has gone 3.15pm in Mandalay, Myanmar, and 3.45pm in Bangkok, Thailand. Here is what we know so far about Friday’s huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and its devastating effects:
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The death toll in Myanmar has reached more than 1,000, as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. The ruling junta said in a statement on Saturday 1,002 people had been confirmed dead and 2,376 injured, with most of the dead in Mandalay. The statement suggested the numbers could still rise, saying “detailed figures are still being collected.”
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The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock. The quake destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with severe damage reported in the second biggest city, Mandalay.
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Myanmar declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, and at one major hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, medics were forced to treat the wounded in the open air.
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In neighbouring Thailand, which also felt tremors, Bangkok city authorities said so far six people had been found dead, 26 injured and 47 were still missing, most from a construction site near the capital’s popular Chatuchak market, where a high-rise building collapsed. Earlier statements had said 10 were confirmed dead and about 100 missing.
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Bangkok city authorities said they will deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety after receiving over 2,000 reports of damage.
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It was the biggest quake to hit Myanmar in over a century, according to US geologists, and the tremors were powerful enough to severely damage buildings across Bangkok, hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from the epicentre.
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In Myanmar, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Previous military regimes have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
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The United Nations allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.
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A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken to Min Aung Hlaing, the Chinese embassy said, while state media reported he had “expressed deep sorrow” over the destruction.
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Russia’s emergencies ministry have dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies to the region, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.
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India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the WHO said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies. India said it had sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
Key events
New Zealand’s foreign minister Winston Peters wrote on X that his government would support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross movement”.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters said on Saturday, reports the Associated Press (AP).
New Zealand’s foreign ministry said all embassy staff in Yangon and Bangkok were accounted for and no New Zealanders had been reported hurt or killed.
Hong Kong will send a rescue team to Myanmar, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The city’s chief executive, John Lee, also extended his condolences to the earthquake victims in a Facebook post on Saturday
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s national fire agency said a rescue team of 120 people was on standby for possible deployment. The team included rescue personnel, doctors, nurses, a vet, six search-and-rescue dogs and 15 tons of equipment, reports the AP.
There are also some more images from Myanmar and Thailand, collated by the Guardian’s picture desk, at this link:
Here are some images coming in via the newswires today:
Global aid effort begins for Myanmar quake relief
Agence France-Presse (AFP) have gathered information on all the global relief efforts announced so far:
China sent an 82-person team of rescuers to Myanmar on Saturday, Beijing’s emergency management ministry said. A separate rescue team from China’s Yunnan arrived in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon on Saturday, CCTV reported. The Chinese government will also provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8m/£10.7m) in emergency humanitarian assistance, with shipments to begin Monday, its international aid agency said on Saturday.
US president Donald Trump on Friday vowed Washington would assist Myanmar after it was hit by the quake. “It’s terrible,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He added: “It’s a real bad one, and we will be helping. We’ve already spoken with the country.”
An Indian aid flight landed in Myanmar on Saturday. Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a C-130 military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials. “A search and rescue team and medical team is also accompanying this flight,” he added. “We will continue to monitor the developments and more aid will follow.”
South Korea’s foreign ministry said it would send $2m in humanitarian assistance “to support urgent rescue and relief efforts” after the earthquake. “The Korean government hopes that this support will help save lives and alleviate suffering in the affected areas,” the ministry said in a statement. Seoul said it could send additional assistance if the situation worsened.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was mobilising its logistics hub in Dubai to prepare trauma injury supplies after the quake and had triggered its emergency management response. The global health body was coordinating its earthquake response from its Geneva headquarters “because we see this as a huge event” with “clearly a very, very big threat to life and health”, spokesperson Margaret Harris told a media briefing.
Iran’s foreign ministry sent Tehran’s condolences to the people and governments of Myanmar and Thailand on Saturday and said it would be prepared to help with humanitarian efforts. “Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei … announced our country’s readiness to assist in the relief and rescue process,” it said.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it would also send a team to Myanmar. The deployment would consist of one commander and 49 rescue personnel “to support ongoing humanitarian and disaster relief operations”. Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan said the south-east Asian bloc Asean, of which Myanmar and Thailand are members, “stands ready to assist” both countries.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto sent condolences to Myanmar and Thailand, and offered to help. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of both countries during this difficult time,” he wrote on X late Friday. “Indonesia stands ready to provide all necessary support for recovery efforts in the affected areas.”
An Indian aid flight landed in Myanmar on Saturday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said a C-130 military transport plane had been dispatched carrying hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels and other essentials.
“A search and rescue team and medical team is also accompanying this flight,” he added. “We will continue to monitor the developments and more aid will follow.”
More than 90 people could be trapped inside the crushed remains of an apartment block in Mandalay in central Myanmar destroyed by a devastating earthquake, a Red Cross official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday as rescuers worked to free the victims.
The Sky Villa condominium development is among the buildings in Mandalay that were worst hit by Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, with several of its 12 storeys flattened one on top of the other.
“Nine people are dead and 44 have been extracted alive,” the Red Cross official at the scene told AFP, requesting anonymity. They added:
More than 90 people could be inside. We are still collecting data as people keep informing us they are looking for their missing family members.”
According to AFP, rescuers clambered over the ruins painstakingly removing pieces of rubble and wreckage by hand as they sought to open up passageways to those trapped inside.
The quake has killed more than 1,000 people in Myanmar but communications are badly disrupted and the true scale of the disaster is only beginning to emerge.
China to provide Myanmar with $13.8 million in quake aid, embassy says
China will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.77m) worth of aid after an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people, its embassy said on Saturday.
The aid will include tents, blankets, emergency medical kits, food and water and other essential items, with the first batch arriving 31 March, according to the Chinese embassy’s Facebook page, reports Reuters.
What we know so far
It has gone 3.15pm in Mandalay, Myanmar, and 3.45pm in Bangkok, Thailand. Here is what we know so far about Friday’s huge earthquake that hit Myanmar and its devastating effects:
-
The death toll in Myanmar has reached more than 1,000, as rescuers dig through the rubble of collapsed buildings in a desperate search for survivors. The ruling junta said in a statement on Saturday 1,002 people had been confirmed dead and 2,376 injured, with most of the dead in Mandalay. The statement suggested the numbers could still rise, saying “detailed figures are still being collected.”
-
The shallow 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the city of Sagaing in central Myanmar in the early afternoon on Friday, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock. The quake destroyed buildings, downed bridges, and buckled roads across swathes of Myanmar, with severe damage reported in the second biggest city, Mandalay.
-
Myanmar declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, and at one major hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, medics were forced to treat the wounded in the open air.
-
In neighbouring Thailand, which also felt tremors, Bangkok city authorities said so far six people had been found dead, 26 injured and 47 were still missing, most from a construction site near the capital’s popular Chatuchak market, where a high-rise building collapsed. Earlier statements had said 10 were confirmed dead and about 100 missing.
-
Bangkok city authorities said they will deploy more than 100 engineers to inspect buildings for safety after receiving over 2,000 reports of damage.
-
It was the biggest quake to hit Myanmar in over a century, according to US geologists, and the tremors were powerful enough to severely damage buildings across Bangkok, hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from the epicentre.
-
In Myanmar, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Previous military regimes have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
-
The United Nations allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.
-
A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken to Min Aung Hlaing, the Chinese embassy said, while state media reported he had “expressed deep sorrow” over the destruction.
-
Russia’s emergencies ministry have dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies to the region, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.
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India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the WHO said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies. India said it had sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
The south-east Asian bloc Asean recognises the urgent need for humanitarian assistance for Myanmar after a major earthquake and is ready to support recovery efforts, its foreign ministers said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
“Asean affirms its solidarity and will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure timely and effective humanitarian response,” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
Rebecca Ratcliffe
In Myanmar, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Previous military regimes have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Russia’s emergencies ministry dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.
India sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
The United Nations allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.
The Trump administration’s cuts to the United States Agency for International Development have already forced the United Nations and non-governmental organisation to cut many programmes in Myanmar.
India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the World Health Organization said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken to Min Aung Hlaing, the Chinese embassy said, while state media reported he had “expressed deep sorrow” over the destruction and said China was “willing to provide Myanmar the needed assistance to support people in affected areas”.
According to Agence France-Pesse (AFP), guards at Mandalay airport have turned away journalists.
“It has been closed since yesterday,” a guard told an AFP reporter. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was hurt.”
Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
In Mandalay, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists saw a centuries-old Buddhist pagoda that had been reduced to rubble by the quake.
“It started shaking, then it started getting serious,” said a soldier at a checkpoint on the road outside the pagoda. “The monastery also collapsed. One monk died. Some people were injured, we pulled out some people and took them to the hospital.”
The head of the main Buddha statue in the monastery fell off and was placed on the platform at its feet.
“Everyone at the monastery dares not sleep inside, as we heard there could be another earthquake. I have never felt anything like this in my life,” the soldier told AFP.
Experts say Myanmar’s devastating earthquake was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modelling suggesting thousands could be dead, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake north-west of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.
“High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people.
Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had passed 1,000, with more than 2,000 injured.
However, the USGS analysis said there was a 35% chance that possible fatalities could be in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 people.
The USGS offered a similar likelihood that the financial damage could total tens of thousands of millions of dollars, warning that it might exceed the GDP of Myanmar.
Weak infrastructure will complicate relief efforts in the isolated, military-ruled state, where rescue services and the healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
