More than 1,700 people have died and 3,400 were injured, with casualties expected to rise further.
The earthquake also caused significant damage to infrastructure, severely affecting communications. Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) has deployed a team to Thailand, ready to reach the affected areas in Myanmar to provide essential communications support.
The earthquake’s epicentre was located near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, home to approximately 1.5 million people. Strong tremors were also felt in neighbouring countries, including Thailand, where casualties and damage have also been reported.
TSF is mobilised to assist coordination and response organisations, including the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), by offering emergency communication facilities.
The team has joined humanitarian partners in Bangkok and will deploy to Myanmar as soon as conditions allow, aiming to support relief efforts in the hardest-hit areas.
Four more people have been pulled from the rubble nearly 60 hours after the earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday. The country’s fire service confirmed that the survivors were rescued from a collapsed school building in the northern Sagaing region, where a body was also recovered.
Hundreds of people remain missing, and frantic search and rescue efforts continue across Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand. In Bangkok, the Thai capital, the death toll has reached 18, while 76 workers remain unaccounted for following the collapse of a high-rise building that had been under construction.
Friday’s devastating quake occurred along the Sagaing fault line, with tremors impacting multiple countries. Although rescue teams have been working tirelessly since the earthquake struck, reaching the worst-affected areas has proven difficult. The delays have left local residents to conduct rescue operations using their bare hands in some cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that hospitals in Myanmar are overwhelmed with the number of injured individuals. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) has highlighted the urgent need for humanitarian aid, stating that thousands of displaced people are without food, shelter, and medical supplies.
As the international community rallies support, aid organisations are working against the clock to deliver relief to those in dire need. The true scale of the disaster is yet to be fully realised, and the need for immediate assistance remains critical.
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