A one-sided partial ceasefire was declared by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government to support earthquake relief operations. This shadow government coordinates the resistance against the ruling military in the country. The death toll in Myanmar from the earthquake has risen to 1644.
The number of injured increased to 3408, while the missing figure rose to 139.
Despite the natural disaster, the military in Myanmar persisted with their attacks. There were three airstrikes in the northern Kayin state and the southern Shan state, which both border Mandalay state. Dave Eubank, a former US Army Special Forces soldier who founded the Free Burma Rangers, a non-profit humanitarian organization, reported these ongoing military activities.
Eubank mentioned to the AP that in the region where he was providing assistance, most villages had already been decimated by the military, making the impact of the earthquake relatively minimal in those areas.
“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.
