The 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude. It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads, caused bridges to collapse and burst a dam.

Mandalay, the country’s second biggest city, is home to more than 1.7 million people.

At least 1,002 people were killed and nearly 2,400 injured in Myanmar, the ruling junta said in a statement. Around 10 more deaths have been confirmed in Bangkok.

But with communications badly disrupted, the true scale of the disaster is only starting to emerge from the isolated military-ruled state, and the toll is expected to rise significantly.

It was the biggest quake to hit Myanmar in decades, according to geologists, and the tremors were powerful enough to severely damage buildings across Bangkok, hundreds of kilometers away from the epicenter.

In Mandalay, AFP journalists saw a centuries-old Buddhist pagoda that had been reduced to rubble by the quake.

“It started shaking, then it started getting serious,” said a soldier at a checkpoint on the road outside the pagoda.

“The monastery also collapsed. One monk died. Some people were injured; we pulled out some people and took them to the hospital.”

The head of the main Buddha statue in the monastery fell off and was placed on the platform at its feet.

“Everyone at the monastery dares not sleep inside, as we heard there could be another earthquake. I have never felt anything like this in my life,” said the soldier.

Guards at Mandalay Airport turned away journalists.

“It has been closed since yesterday,” said one. “The ceiling collapsed, but no one was hurt.”

Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and health care system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.

Rare junta plea for help

The country declared a state of emergency across the six worst-affected regions after the quake, and at one major hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, medics were forced to treat the wounded in the open air on Friday.

The Philippine Embassy in Myanmar said on Saturday that they are gathering information on Filipinos affected following Friday’s earthquake.

It noted that those who wish to be repatriated or relocated are also going to be assessed.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, said no Filipinos were affected in the earthquake there.

In an email from its Philippine office, international organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said their teams in Myanmar are safe and accounted for, following the quake.

“While we are not in the areas that have been most impacted by the earthquake, all of our teams in the country really felt it, and all of our offices were also evacuated,” Federica Franco, the MSF head of mission in Myanmar, said.

“Thankfully, all of our staff is safe, but we are deeply concerned about the people in the affected areas,” she added. “The situation is very complicated because there are significant communication blackouts in some of the hardest hit areas, and this is due to the ongoing conflict.”

Meanwhile, MSF also said that swift access to affected areas and approval of essential supplies and personnel are critical in their rescue efforts.

“Our medical humanitarian staff in Myanmar and neighboring countries have the capacity to respond at scale to the needs of affected communities, once authorities facilitate swift and unhindered access for teams to do assessments and provide medical care,” the group said in another statement.

“Given the scale and intensity of the earthquake, the impact on people could be devastating, particularly for those who require immediate lifesaving assistance due to trauma injuries. We’re also concerned about those who will be vulnerable as a result of loss of shelter, loss of access to general health care, as well as loss of access to safe drinking water, which is crucial to control the possible spread of waterborne diseases,” they added.

Offers of foreign assistance began coming in.

China and Russia are the largest suppliers of weapons to Myanmar’s military and were among the first to step in with humanitarian aid.

A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia’s emergencies ministry dispatched two planes carrying 120 rescuers and supplies, according to a report from the Russian state news agency Tass.

India sent a search and rescue team and a medical team as well as provisions, while Malaysia’s foreign ministry said the country will send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.

South Korea announced it would provide $2 million worth of humanitarian aid to Myanmar through international organizations to support recovery efforts. The Foreign Ministry added that Seoul would closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.

The United Nations allocated $5 million to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said Friday that the US was going to help with the response, but some experts were concerned about this effort given his administration’s deep cuts in foreign assistance.

The Trump administration’s cuts to the United States Agency for International Development have already forced the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to cut many programs in Myanmar.

In the Philippines, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said the Department of Health (DOH) has placed three emergency medical assistance units on standby while awaiting international coordination protocols.

“We are continuously in touch with the Office of the President for further instructions as the Philippines coordinates with its earthquake-stricken Asean neighbors,” Herbosa stated.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), meanwhile, reaffirmed its commitment to provide aid and work with local and international partners to swiftly mobilize resources for Myanmar and neighboring Thailand. The OCD did not offer specifics on the kind of aid it would provide.

Aid agencies have warned that Myanmar is totally unprepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude. Some 3.5 million people were displaced by the raging civil war, many at risk of hunger, even before the quake struck.

Damaged airports

In Myanmar, rescue efforts so far are focused on the major stricken cities of Mandalay, the country’s No. 2 city, and Naypyitaw, the capital.

But even though teams and equipment have been flown in from other nations, they are hindered by damage to airports. Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show that the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport as if sheered from its base.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any casualties from its collapse.

Myanmar’s civil war also an obstacle

Another major complication is the civil war roiling much of the country, including the quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are incredibly dangerous or simply impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.

The interplay of politics and disaster was demonstrated Saturday night, when Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

It said its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force, will implement a two-week pause in offensive military operations starting Sunday in earthquake-affected areas and it would also collaborate with the U.N. and international nongovernmental organizations “to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps,” in the areas it controls.

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Extensive damage in cities

The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 6.4. It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads and caused bridges to collapse.

In Naypyitaw, crews worked Saturday to repair damaged roads, while electricity, phone and internet services remained down for most of the city. The earthquake brought down many buildings, including multiple units that housed government civil servants, but that section of the city was blocked off by authorities on Saturday.

An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it’s allocating $5 million from a Central Emergency Response Fund for “life-saving assistance.”

The immediate planned measures include a convoy of 17 cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies from China that is expected to arrive on Sunday, it said.

It noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned of a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”

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Rescue crews and relief materials

Myanmar’s friends and neighbors have already brought in rescue personnel and relief materials. China and Russia are the largest suppliers of weapons to Myanmar’s military, and were among the first to step in with humanitarian aid.

In a country where prior governments sometimes have been slow to accept foreign aid, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government, said that Myanmar was ready to accept outside assistance.

China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies like medical kits and generators, and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies, and the country’s Health Ministry said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.

Other countries like India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are also sending help, and US President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington was going to help with the response.

The ceasefire plan announced by the opposition National Unity Government also proposed to provide health care professionals loyal to its resistance movement to work with international humanitarian organizations to deliver emergency rescue and medical services in areas under the military’s control, if provided with safety guarantees.

The military has heavily restricted much-needed aid efforts to the large population already displaced by war even before the earthquake. Sympathizers of the resistance have urged that relief efforts incorporate aid freely transported to areas under the control of the resistance, so it can’t be weaponized by the army.

There was no immediate comment by the military to the announcement.

Military forces continued their attacks even after the quake, with three airstrikes in northern Kayin state, also called Karenni state, and southern Shan—both of which border Mandalay state, said Dave Eubank, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who founded the Free Burma Rangers, a private aid organization.

Eubank told the AP that in the area he was operating in, most villages have already been destroyed by the military so the earthquake had little impact.

“People are in the jungle and I was out in the jungle when the earthquake hit — it was powerful, but the trees just moved, that was it for us, so we haven’t had a direct impact other than that the Burma army keeps attacking, even after the quake,” he said.

Earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, but relatively common in Myanmar. The country sits on the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.

Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said that the quake caused intense ground shaking in an area where most of the population lives in buildings constructed of timber and unreinforced brick masonry.

“When you have a large earthquake in an area where there are over a million people, many of them living in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous,” he said in a statement. —

WITH ARIC JOHN SY CUA, ALLEN LIMOS, FRANCO JOSE C. BAROÑA

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