The extent of the destruction in Myanmar from Friday’s powerful earthquake is slowly starting to emerge. At least 2,700 people are dead, according to the military government, and more than 4,500 injured — though the figures are rising all the time. The tragedy could hardly have come at a worse moment for the fragile state. Decades of repressive military rule and internal insurgencies have sapped its development, and the intensified civil war since the junta retook power in a 2021 coup has killed thousands and degraded hospitals, roads and electricity supplies. A third of Myanmar’s people were already expected to need humanitarian assistance this year. Now aid agencies lack the security guarantees, access and information needed for disaster relief.
The earthquake, the world’s most powerful since the ruinous tremors that hit Turkey and Syria in 2023, was felt as far away as Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand, where at least 21 people died. But Myanmar took the full force — and is far less well equipped to deal with the aftermath. The state’s capacity has been further eroded since the military toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. The junta is now reckoned to control less than half the country, with other areas held by ethnic armed groups or resistance forces, or still contested. UN-appointed investigators have accused the military of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against its people.
Infrastructure has been damaged, and many health workers and teachers who joined civil disobedience efforts against the military regime have lost jobs, some of them now working underground. A UN report in January warned of economic disruptions and millions pushed into poverty. Aid agencies say the quake has now damaged more hospitals, highways and airports. The timing is particularly difficult after the US, Myanmar’s biggest source of humanitarian help last year, slashed foreign aid.