International rescue teams and aid are pouring into Myanmar as the death toll from a devastating magnitude-7.9 earthquake continues to climb. The quake, one of the most powerful to hit Myanmar in a century, struck on Friday, leaving approximately 1,700 people dead, 3,400 injured, and over 300 missing as of Sunday.
Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of Myanmar’s State Administration Council, cautioned that the death toll could rise further, state media reported. This comes three days after he made an unusual appeal for international assistance.
Neighboring countries like the Chinese mainland, India, and Thailand have dispatched relief materials and rescue teams to the hardest-hit areas. Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia have also joined the international aid effort.
International rescuers are racing against time to find survivors. On Monday morning, Chinese rescuers freed a child who had been trapped for about 60 hours under the rubble of the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay, according to China Media Group. So far, Chinese rescuers have recovered six people in Myanmar, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Further aid is expected to arrive in the coming days. The Chinese mainland, whose first batch of relief materials departed on Monday morning, has pledged 100 million yuan ($13.9 million) in aid. New Zealand has announced a donation of 2 million New Zealand dollars ($1.14 million) through the International Red Cross. On Friday, the UN committed $5 million to support disaster relief in the quake-hit country.
Relief efforts have been hampered due to extensive damage to key infrastructure, including bridges, highways, airports, and railways. Residents in the affected cities of Mandalay and Sagaing reported that international aid had yet to reach them, according to Reuters.
About 80 percent of buildings and homes in Sagaing suffered varying degrees of destruction, with many completely collapsed, China Media Group reported. Local residents are facing immense difficulties, lacking clothing, food, clean drinking water, and medical supplies. Rescue efforts have relied heavily on local authorities and spontaneous public initiatives.
“The destruction has been extensive, and humanitarian needs are growing by the hour,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.
The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal for 100 million Swiss francs ($113.6 million) to assist 100,000 people with life-saving relief and early recovery support.
On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the Myanmar earthquake a top-level emergency, urgently requesting $8 million to save lives and prevent disease outbreaks in the next 30 days. It warned that the large number of casualties and trauma victims are highly vulnerable to infections due to Myanmar’s limited surgical capabilities. The already challenging conditions in the country, with a population of about 50 million, could further exacerbate the risk of disease following the disaster.
In neighboring Thailand, parts of which were also shaken by Friday’s quake, 18 people died, and 78 remain missing. Local authorities reported damage to buildings in 18 provinces across the country. However, the situation has been brought under control, with the risk of aftershocks gradually diminishing, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
