Humanitarian needs remain pressing a month after Myanmar's deadly quake
[April 28, 2025]
By GRANT PECK
BANGKOK (AP) — The humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands of
survivors remain desperately pressing a month after Myanmar’s deadly
earthquake, compounded by airstrikes that the military government is
reportedly carrying out despite ceasefires meant to aid relief efforts
during the country’s civil war.
The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake hit a wide swath of the country,
causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the
capital, Naypyitaw. Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
reported Monday there had been 157 aftershocks after the big quake,
ranging in magnitude from 2.8 to 7.5.
Quake death toll rises
State-run MRTV television reported on Sunday the quake’s death toll had
reached 3,769, with 5,106 people injured and 107 still missing. The
earthquake left many areas without power, telephone or cell connections
and damaged roads and bridges, in addition to tens of thousands of
buildings.
In some quake-hit areas, bereaved relatives and friends of the
disaster’s victims on Monday offered donations to monks, a Buddhist
tradition to transfer merit and blessings to the deceased.
Military airstrikes continue
A report released Monday by the Myanmar Witness project of the
London-based Centre for Information Resilience said the group had
documented 80 post-quake airstrikes by the military across multiple
regions, including 65 after the army declared its unilateral ceasefire
on April 2, following similar declarations by its battlefield foes.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army’s 2021 takeover ousted the
elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which led to nationwide peaceful
protests that escalated into armed resistance, uniting pro-democracy
activists and ethnic minority guerrilla groups that have long been
fighting for autonomy
“Myanmar’s population was already on its knees after years of SAC
aggression and armed conflict,” said Myanmar Witness project director
Robert Dolan, referring to the military’s ruling State Administration
Council. “The layers of suffering are hard to comprehend — we’ve seen
regions wrecked by war and then the earthquake, only to sustain further
damage from continued airstrikes.”
The bombings have primarily targeted civilian areas — markets,
residential zones, Buddhist monasteries, and Christian churches —
resulting in the deaths of over 200 civilians, including at least 24
children, from March 28 to April 19, 2025, according to a statement from
the shadow National Unity Government, the main opposition group
coordinating resistance to military rule.
Dave Eubank, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who founded the
Free Burma Rangers, a private aid organization, said two of his medics
had been killed in military attacks since the earthquake, which have
primarily struck villages.
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A volunteer drives a backhoe to clear debris of a building at a
market, after one month of the strong earthquake in Naypyitaw,
Myanmar, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
“These attacks have now slowed down at all, attacks by drones,
airstrikes, mortars and artillery continue unabated,” said Eubank,
who was in Myanmar when the earthquake hit but is currently outside
the country, though his teams continue to operate there.
“They have been widespread and lethal, mostly to villagers — very
few of the resistance have been killed by them.”
The military government hasn’t directly commented on the airstrikes,
but when it extended its ceasefire on April 22, it reserved the
right to respond as “necessary” to certain activities by the
resistance forces.
Agencies warn of dire living conditions
U.N. agencies and other humanitarian organizations, meanwhile,
stress that living conditions remain dire for earthquake survivors.
Even before the earthquake, the civil war had displaced more than 3
million people and left nearly 20 million in need.
“Critical needs remain for safe shelter, clean water and sanitation,
physical and mental health care, comprehensive protection services
and cash assistance,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday in its latest situation report.
Many who lost their homes are still in makeshift tents with little
to protect them from pre-monsoon storms ahead of the months-long
rainy season, which normally begins in May, and limited access to
safe drinking water and clean sanitation raises the threat of
waterborne diseases, the U.N. said.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
said in a report released Monday that displaced people were living
outdoors in temperatures of up to forty degrees Celsius (104 degrees
Fahrenheit), with an overwhelming fear of further aftershocks.
Reconstruction starts
In Naypyitaw, the damaged buildings of the labor and foreign
ministries have been demolished for new construction, said a
resident who asked not to be named for security reasons. Debris at
markets and schools has been cleaned by municipal workers, while
thousands of people, who lost their homes, were still living under
tarpaulin sheets, he said.
He said that he was told that the departments and offices of several
ministries will be temporarily relocated to Yangon, the country’s
former capital and largest city, until their offices can be rebuilt.
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Associated Press writer David Rising contributed to this report.
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