1,600 Killed in Myanmar Quake, UN Reports Severe Damage to Critical Infrastructure

Video: Woman pulled from building collapsed by an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar | Radio Free Asia

In an article by Radio Free Asia, Saw Wunna, Khin Khin Ei, and Mike Firn report on the devastating aftermath of a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar, which has killed over 1,600 people (with numbers rising) and caused widespread destruction. It also covers the international response, ongoing challenges due to Myanmar’s civil war, and secondary impacts in neighboring Thailand.

The death toll from Myanmar’s massive earthquake soared past 1,600 on Saturday, state media said, as rescuers pulled survivors from rubble and the United Nations warned of severe damage to critical infrastructure and thousands left sleeping in the streets.

In the capital of neighboring Thailand, hundreds of kilometers away from the quake epicenter, national police said the toll from the collapse of a high rise under construction nudged upward, with 13 dead and 118 still missing.

The 7.7 magnitude quake struck just after noon on Friday near Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay. By Saturday evening, state-run MRTV was reporting 1,644 deaths -- up more than 600 in the course of the day. And additional 3,408 were reported injured and 139 missing.

The United Nations in Myanmar on Saturday reported widespread destruction of homes and “severe damage” to critical infrastructure, with flights cancelled until further notice at the international airport at Mandalay. It added that “major bridges, roads, universities, hotels, historical and religious sites and public service buildings in urban and rural areas have been heavily damaged or destroyed.”