Key events
The south-east Asian bloc Asean recognises the urgent need for humanitarian assistance for Myanmar after a major earthquake and is ready to support recovery efforts, its foreign ministers said on Saturday, reports Reuters.
“Asean affirms its solidarity and will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure timely and effective humanitarian response,” the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
Rebecca Ratcliffe
In Myanmar, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Previous military regimes have shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
A 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on 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 would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
The United Nations allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said on 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 organisation to cut many programmes in Myanmar.
India, France and the European Union offered to provide assistance, while the World Health Organization said it was mobilising to prepare trauma injury supplies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken to Min Aung Hlaing, the Chinese embassy said, while state media reported he had “expressed deep sorrow” over the destruction and said China was “willing to provide Myanmar the needed assistance to support people in affected areas”.
According to Agence France-Pesse (AFP), guards at Mandalay airport have turned away journalists.
“It has been closed since yesterday,” a guard told an AFP reporter. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was hurt.”
Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
In Mandalay, Agence France-Presse (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,” the soldier told AFP.
Experts say Myanmar’s devastating earthquake was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modelling suggesting thousands could be dead, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake north-west of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses.
“High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people.
Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had passed 1,000, with more than 2,000 injured.
However, the USGS analysis said there was a 35% chance that possible fatalities could be in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 people.
The USGS offered a similar likelihood that the financial damage could total tens of thousands of millions of dollars, warning that it might exceed the GDP of Myanmar.
Weak infrastructure will complicate relief efforts in the isolated, military-ruled state, where rescue services and the healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
Patients evacuated from a Bangkok hospital have been taken to a nearby sports hall where hospital beds are lined up beneath basketball hoops and beside football goals.
Agence France-Presse reports that when powerful tremors from Myanmar’s earthquake and aftershock shook the Thai capital on Friday afternoon, patients at Rajavithi hospital were rushed out of the building, some helped down stairs to nearby makeshift shelters, including to the hospital’s canteen and sports hall.
One patient, being treated for leukaemia, said she was moved from her private room to a hall in the hospital, walking down multiple flights of stairs aided by nurses.
I need to receive my blood platelets soon, and the hospital is currently checking which other hospital can provide the treatment.
Some patients were later moved back inside, while others were transferred to different hospitals this morning, a hospital staff member said.
On Saturday, around 30 patients were in the hall, where hospital staff provided basic medical care including blood transfusions.
Control tower collapse at Naypyitaw airport kills six – report
The main airport in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw has been closed after Friday’s earthquake caused its air traffic control tower to collapse, killing at least six people, according to a news report.
The independent outlet Myanmar Now also said there were reports of extensive damage to aviation equipment.
It reported a source as saying that an air traffic controller, three female assistants, the son of one of the assistants and a military intelligence officer were confirmed dead following the collapse of the tower.
The report could not be independently verified.
It also cited an aviation officer at Yangon’s international airport as saying the radar systems at the airports in Naypyitaw and Mandalay were no longer operating.
The south-east Asian bloc Asean says it is ready to support quake recovery efforts in Myanmar and Thailand and recognises the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.
Foreign ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations said in a joint statement on Saturday that the bloc “reaffirms its solidarity with the families and communities affected by the earthquake”.
They also said Asean “will work closely to coordinate humanitarian assistance, support and facilitate relief operations, and ensure timely and effective humanitarian response”.
China and Russia are the largest suppliers of weapons to Myanmar’s military and were among the first to step in with humanitarian aid.
The Associated Press reports that a 37-member team from the Chinese province of Yunnan reached the city of Yangon early on Saturday with earthquake detectors, drones and other supplies, China’s 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 would send 50 people on Sunday to help identify and provide aid to the worst-hit areas.
The UN allocated $5m to start relief efforts. President Donald Trump said 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 US Agency for International Development have already forced the UN and non-governmental organisations to cut many programs in Myanmar.
In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, Agence France-Presse journalists saw a centuries-old Buddhist pagoda that had been reduced to rubble by the quake.
“It started shaking, then it started getting serious,” a soldier said 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,” the soldier said. “I have never felt anything like this in my life.
Guards at Mandalay airport turned away journalists, the AFP report said.
“It has been closed since yesterday,” one said. “The ceiling collapsed but no one was hurt.”
Damage to the airport would complicate relief efforts in a country whose rescue services and healthcare system have already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by the military coup in 2021.
Myanmar’s state-run MRTV is saying the death toll from Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake has climbed to 1,002.
It said 2,376 people were injured and 30 missing, Reuters reports.
South Korea will provide $2m to Myanmar in humanitarian aid through international organisations in initial assistance to help the country respond to Friday’s earthquake, Reuters quotes its foreign ministry as saying on Saturday.
In Bangkok, where a skyscraper under construction came crashing down near the popular Chatuchak market, more heavy equipment was brought in on Saturday to move the tons of rubble but hope was fading among friends and family members of the missing that they will be found alive, the Associated Press reports.
“I was praying that that they had survived but when I got here and saw the ruin – where could they be? In which corner? Are they still alive?” said 45-year-old Naruemol Thonglek, sobbing as she awaited news about her partner, who is from Myanmar, and five friends who worked at the site.
I am still praying that all six are alive.
I cannot accept this. When I see this I can’t accept this. A close friend of mine is in there, too.
Waenphet Panta said she hadn’t heard from her daughter Kanlayanee since a phone call about an hour before the quake. A friend told her Kanlayanee had been working high on the building on Friday.
“I am praying my daughter is safe, that she has survived and that she’s at the hospital,” she said as Kanlayanee’s father sat beside her.
Quake toll passes 1,000 – report
The Myanmar quake toll has topped 1,000, Agence France-Presse is reporting, citing the country’s military junta.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the earthquake that devastated Myanmar and caused the deadly collapse of a high-rise building in Bangkok on Friday.
The Myanmar junta on Saturday said almost 700 people had died in the quake. The country’s second biggest city, Mandalay, is believed to have been especially hard hit, with images showing widespread destruction.
Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of Myanmar’s junta, said on Friday he expected the death toll to rise and urged “any country, any organisation” to help with relief efforts – a rare request from the isolated military government, which has previously shunned foreign assistance even after major natural disasters.
The junta said blood was in high demand in the worst-affected areas as concerns grew about how rescuers would even reach some parts of a country already enduring a widespread humanitarian crisis.
In neighbouring Thailand, search and rescue efforts continued for up to 101 people reported missing from construction sites in Bangkok, including the high-rise.
Authorities on Saturday said six people had been confirmed dead and 22 injured, revising down the death toll of 10 from the previous day, saying several critically injured people were mistakenly reported dead.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said more people were believed to be alive in the wreckage as search efforts continued on Saturday morning.
We’ll bring you more updates as we have them.
