By Lobsang DS Subirana, Taryn Wilson and Hataiphan Tungkananukulchai
Bangkok, Mar 29 (EFE).- More than 1,600 people have been killed in Myanmar following a powerful magnitude-7.7 earthquake, as Thai emergency teams worked into the night Saturday to locate survivors in the rubble of a collapsed highrise building.
Myanmar’s military junta on Saturday night raised the death toll to 1,644, the number of injured to 3,408, and those missing to 139 from Friday’s shallow tremor, which has caused a desperate humanitarian situation and destroyed hundreds of buildings in a country with generally poor infrastructure.
Motorists drive past collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar, 28 March 2025. EFE-EPA/STRINGER
The military authorities launched a large-scale rescue operation and a rare appeal for international help.
“I have declared a state of emergency in all affected areas and have opened all possible channels to receive international assistance,” military junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said in a Friday night statement. “I would like to invite any country or organization to come and assist the monks, nuns, and citizens in Myanmar who are in need.”
While patchy and blocked communications made information slow to get out, reports from Mandalay and photos from the scene showed wards filling up throughout the city of 1.5 million people, as hospitals became overwhelmed with patients and people searching for their loved ones, many lying outdoors on the floor as emergency workers held IV drips by hand.
In the streets, scenes of destruction mired the country as most buildings lay uninhabitable from the damage, while residents sought refuge wherever they could, as basic amenities such as electricity and water were widely unavailable.
Malaysia and India were among countries that pledged assistance following the incident, as Delhi sent search and rescue teams along with China, which announced Saturday that it will provide 100 million yuan (approximately $13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid, including two rescue teams and aid materials.
“On behalf of the Chinese government and people, (President Xi Jinping) would like to express his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, the injured and the people affected by the disaster,” China’s embassy in Myanmar said.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X that he had spoken with Min Aung Hlaing Saturday.
“Conveyed our deep condolences at the loss of lives in the devastating earthquake. As a close friend and neighbour, India stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar in this difficult hour. Disaster relief material, humanitarian assistance, search & rescue teams are being expeditiously dispatched to the affected areas,” he wrote.
Russia also said it had sent two planes with rescue teams and medics including infectious disease specialists, traumatologists, orthopedists, and anesthesiologists.
“My prayers go out to the people of Burma and Thailand who are impacted by the earthquake,” United States State Secretary Marco Rubio wrote on X. “Grateful to confirm our teams on the ground are safe and secure amidst reports of severe damage and casualties. We’ve been in with these countries and, as (President Donald Trump) said, stand ready to provide assistance.”
Thailand races to find trapped workers
Thai authorities as of 7pm Saturday updated Bangkok’s death toll from the quake to 10, with 42 rescued and 83 still missing, both at the site of a collapsed government highrise under construction and “other affected sites.”
At least 15 people trapped among the rubble of the State Audit Office building were still alive, authorities said Saturday morning.
“The rescue teams are attempting to get food and water to them. The difficulty is that some of them are trapped about three meters deep. We have about 72 hours to help them, because that is the approximate length of time a person can survive without water and food,” Suriyachai Rawiwan, Thailand’s disaster authority director, said Saturday morning.
Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said those detected alive were in groups of three to seven people and that the upper estimate for those missing is 101 people.
Naruemol Thomglek (C) weeps as she waits for missing family during a search operation for survivors at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, 29 March 2025. EFE-EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
The city’s Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said he deployed 130 engineers throughout the capital to inspect buildings for structural damage, as building inspection requests reached into the thousands, and authorities kept parks open for citizens to camp out overnight.
The government said Thai King Vajiralongkorn had called for the injured to be given royal medical care. “The King of Thailand graciously extends royal medical care to all victims injured in yesterday’s earthquakes,” it said in a post on X.
Zaw Zaw Soe, Myanmar’s ambassador to Thailand, visited the construction site’s mountain of wreckage Saturday morning, amid fears that many of those under the building remains are Myanmar nationals.
Rescue workers of the army conduct search operations for survivors at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, 29 March 2025. EFE-EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Thailand relies heavily on neighboring countries’ migrant workers for manual and construction labor. Many come from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos seeking better economic opportunities or fleeing unstable situations in their countries.
Meanwhile, military junta forces continued to bomb rebel-held areas, including in Sagaing region and Shan State, despite the destruction caused by the earthquake, the opposition shadow National Unity Government reported Saturday.
Myanmar is located near an area of high tectonic activity due to the pressure between the Indian subcontinent plate to the south and the Eurasian plate to the north. However, Friday’s earthquake is one of the strongest recorded in recent years. In August 2016, a M6.8 earthquake struck the country. EFE
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