In brief
The recent earthquake in Myanmar has left communities in mourning, with casualties rising amid ongoing rescue operations and government military airstrikes adding to the chaos.
On March 30, 2025, volunteer rescue workers like Myo Zaw arrived with urgency at a collapsed three-story house in Mandalay, where they initially heard a faint voice calling for help. In a heartbreaking turn, after hours of digging, they managed to pull out a 12-year-old girl, who survived while her mother and grandparents were tragically found dead in the rubble. "I fear we will find more bodies than survivors," Myo Zaw lamented, as intense heat exacerbated the quick decomposition of those trapped.Since the quake struck, over 1,600 have been confirmed dead across the nation, with more than 3,000 injured, marking this disaster as the most severe earthquake to impact Myanmar in over a century. The urgency is palpable as time runs out to find survivors; experts indicate that the chances of survival diminish sharply after 72 hours post-disaster.The devastating impact is felt across Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city with a population of around 1.5 million, located near the quake's epicenter. As rescuers continue their search through the wreckage, fears mount that more tragedies will emerge as the situation unfolds amidst the ongoing military airstrikes in other parts of the country. The dual challenge of managing rescue efforts while coping with military actions complicates the already dire humanitarian response.
