War-Torn Myanmar Struggles With Quake Rescue as Toll Rises

The death toll from Myanmar’s biggest earthquake in a century is set to climb from more than 1,700 following the end of a critical 72-hour rescue window, with aid efforts hampered by the ongoing civil war and sweltering heat.

About 3,400 are injured in the war-torn country and the death toll may rise further, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said. More than 300 people are still missing after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s second largest city of Mandalay at a little before 1 p.m. on March 28. Myanmar declared a week of national mourning from Monday.

The quake and subsequent aftershocks devastated swathes of a civil war-stricken country that has been controlled by a military junta since 2021. Even before the temblor, some 19.9 million people – or around a third of the population – needed humanitarian assistance, .

On Sunday, Myanmar rebels declared a two-week ceasefire in quake-hit areas to allow aid to reach victims. The junta hasn’t said if it will join, while local media reported the military government continues to conduct airstrikes near areas affected by the tremor.

Quake-hit Sagaing and Mandalay are “affected by ongoing conflict” and remain partially inaccessible, the World Health Organization said in a flash appeal seeking to raise $8 million.

Crematoriums in , according to the Myanmar Now website, which reported that the military junta has barred international journalists from quake-stricken areas. The ruling military government is busy with rescue efforts, and thus has “difficulties” in issuing visas to foreign journalists, spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said.

China’s embassy said its rescuers have saved several people in Mandalay. The team worked for more than five hours to rescue a woman trapped in a Mandalay hotel for about 60 hours, the junta said in a statement. “Her vital signs are good,” it added.

One issue is the summer heat, with the US Climate Prediction Center forecasting above-normal minimum temperatures for much of the country through early next week, with maximum temperatures in the 30-40C (86-104F) range.

“People are still trapped inside collapsed buildings including a big hotel. Some of them may still be alive, but there is not enough machinery to remove all the debris,” according to Myo Min Soe, a resident of Mandalay. “International rescue teams arrived in Mandalay but they can’t save everyone.”

In neighboring Thailand, where at least 18 people died in the quake, efforts continue to find dozens missing after the collapse of a building under construction. On Monday, at least a couple of office buildings in Bangkok were evacuated on suspicion of fresh tremors.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has said the situation is under control. Offices and financial markets reopened today, and most small and medium-sized factories resumed operations. The benchmark stock index fell as much as 1.7% on Monday.

In Myanmar, United States Geological Survey modeling indicates that more than 10,000 people may have died, with economic losses more than total gross domestic product. Millions of children are at risk, UNICEF said.

Roughly in Myanmar in 2008, when Cyclone Nargis swept across the country’s coastal belt, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The latest disaster comes after fighting between opposition groups and the junta displaced more than 3.5 million people, with the UN refugee agency that some 1.6 million of internally displaced people are in quake-hit areas.

Still, the shadow National Unity Government said its guerrilla People’s Defence Force paused offensive military operations for two weeks from Sunday. Made up of allies of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the NUG said it has allocated $1 million initially for emergency rescue and medical operations.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations called for “a safe and conducive environment” to allow delivery of aid after a virtual emergency meeting on Sunday.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched an for more than $100 million to assist 100,000 people with life-saving relief and early recovery support over the next 24 months.

“This is not just a disaster; it is a complex humanitarian crisis layered over existing vulnerabilities,” said Alexander Matheou, regional director for the organization.

Photograph: Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in Bangkok, on March 29, 2025. Photo credit: Andre Malerba/Bloomberg

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