Myanmar quake death toll rises to 1600, more than 3400 injured

Aid workers have warned it could be weeks before the full extent of the damage caused by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in conflict-racked Myanmar will be known.

Tradesmen run for cover as a building collapses after a strong earthquake hit Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.

Rescuers have dug through the rubble in a desperate search for survivors in some of Myanmar’s largest cities, a day after a series of devastating earthquakes ripped through the war-torn country, potentially causing thousands of deaths.

People drive on a motorbike past a collapsed building in Mandalay. Picture: AFP

By Saturday evening local time, Myanmar state television said that 1644 people had been killed and 3408 injured, but that this was a preliminary toll. Most of the dead and injured were in Myanmar’s second-largest city, Mandalay, and surrounding areas.

Aid workers have warned it could be weeks before the full extent of the damage in the conflict-racked nation will be known, with the current death toll expected to climb rapidly into the thousands in coming days.

The US Geological Society issued a red alert after the earthquake, indicating “high casualties and extensive damage”, and warned deaths from the disaster could exceed 10,000 as bodies are recovered from the rubble.

The huge tremblor struck 21km outside of Myanmar’s second largest city of Mandalay, at a depth of just 10km.

Friends and relatives wait for news about possible survivors at the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok. Picture: AFP

People look on as teams of rescue workers attempt to free residents trapped under the rubble of the destroyed Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay. Picture: AFP

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing conceded on Friday that “casualties are expected to rise”.

“I would like to request the public to provide aid and as much support as possible for the ongoing rescue efforts needed due to the impact of this earthquake,” the junta chief said in a televised address.

“I have declared a state of emergency in all affected areas and have opened all possible channels to receive international assistance. I would like to invite any country or organisation to come and assist the monks, nuns, and citizens in Myanmar who are in need.”

The initial quake, followed shortly after by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock, struck around 12.50pm local time shattering homes, bridges, hospitals and historical buildings across at least six regions of Myanmar including Mandalay and the capital Naypyidaw.

It also caused extensive damage in neighbouring Thailand’s capital Bangkok nearly 1000km away, razing a 34-storey building still in construction to the ground and trapping potentially more than 100 people in the rubble.

Rescue teams worked through the night at a construction site where a building collapsed in Bangkok. Picture: Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP

Thai authorities said at least 10 people had died in the quake though that figure too was expected to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continued across the stricken city.

In Myanmar, one of Asia’s poorest countries, many of the worst-affected regions are under the control of the military whose ouster of the elected Aung San Suu Kyi administration in February 2021 triggered the ongoing civil conflict.

Saigang and neighbouring Shan State _ two regions that have seen some of the heaviest fighting _ were among the hardest-hit, heaping misery upon wretchedness for the communities there that have already suffered the brunt of devastating military air and ground strikes.

Dave Eubank from the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian aid group supporting the Myanmar democratic resistance, told The Australian he could feel the tremblor strongly in the jungles of southern Shan State where his rangers were assisting hundreds of people who had already fled government-controlled areas.

People drive on a motorbike past a collapsed building in Mandalay on Friday, after the earthquake in central Myanmar. Picture: AFP

“We were in the jungle where almost all the IDPs (internally displaced people) are hiding and so even though the ground shook and the trees swayed no one was injured,” he said.

“They had all been chased out of their homes. The nearby towns have already been devastated by the Burma military and reduced to rubble so there was nothing left to fall.”

Mr Eubank said the group had little access to worst-affected areas given they were mostly controlled by the military and could only pray that aid would reach them.

The disaster has compounded an escalating humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, four years after the military coup ended the country’s nascent democratic experiment and plunged at least a third of the population into poverty.

Strong #earthquake hits Bangkok, sending pool water over edge of building
Tall buildings in #Bangkok & surrounding provinces swayed due to resonance with low-frequency seismic waves. pic.twitter.com/zUe0Zp3JND

— DINESH SHARMA (@medineshsharma) March 28, 2025

Recent crippling aid cuts have also left vulnerable communities more exposed than ever.

While the earthquake has sparked calls for urgent assistance for Myanmar it has also triggered warnings that the junta will likely seek to exploit the situation to its military advantage by suspending, obstructing and manipulating humanitarian access _ as it did after Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and Cyclone Yagi last year.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday the junta had asked for assistance and that relief was being mobilised “to support the people of Myanmar”.

While other countries had also been affected by the earthquake, “the epicentre is in Myanmar, and Myanmar is the weakest country in this present situation”, he said.

High-rise building collapses due to strong #earthquake in Chatuchak, Bangkok. #แผ่นดินไหว#กรุงเทพมหานครpic.twitter.com/fiRV6ZIZq2

— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) March 28, 2025

But the Special Advisory Committee for Myanmar _ a group of UN experts formed to help advise the democratic resistance to the junta _ urged the international community to channel all aid and assistance through the parallel National Unity Government, ethnic and civil society organisations to ensure it reached all those in need.

International Rescue Committee regional director Mohammed Riyas said the earthquake’s impact was expected to be severe, with “possibly thousands of displaced people in need of urgent shelter, food and medical aid”.

“We fear it may be weeks before we understand the full extent of destruction caused by this earthquake, as communication network lines are down and transport is disrupted,” Riyas said on Saturday.

“The damage to infrastructure and homes, loss of life and injuries sustained by communities affected should not be underestimated.”

The earthquake occurred along the Sagaing Fault, a major tectonic structure similar to California’s San Andreas faultline, which stretches from the Andaman Sea in the south to the very northern part of Myanmar.

– Additional reporting by AFP

BREAKING: Bangkok rocked, earthquake causes skyscraper under construction to collapse,Thailand.
Chatuchak. #แผ่นดินไหว#กรุงเทพมหานครpic.twitter.com/qBtR1y6NfI

— Timjbo 🇦🇺 (@Tim_jbo) March 28, 2025