By Hla-Hla Htay, and Montira Rungjirajittranon, AFP and RNZ
A woman clears debris in front of damaged houses in Mandalay following the 30 March quake. Photo: AFP / SAI AUNG MAIN
Residents scrambled desperately through collapsed buildings searching for survivors as aftershocks rattled the devastated city of Mandalay, two days after a massive earthquake killed more than 1600 people in Myanmar and at least 17 in neighbouring Thailand.
The initial 7.7-magnitude quake struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early Friday afternoon (local time), followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.
The tremors collapsed buildings, downed bridges and buckled roads, with mass destruction seen in the city of more than 1.7 million people.
At this stage the New Zealand government is not considering sending personnel to Myanmar or Thailand to help with earthquake relief.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement New Zealand's contribution to the International Red Cross would support experienced humanitarian responders already active on the ground.
New Zealand would continue to closely monitor the humanitarian response and consider how to contribute, it said.
As dawn broke Sunday, tea shop owner Win Lwin picked his way through the remains of a collapsed restaurant on a main road in his neighbourhood, tossing bricks aside one by one.
"About seven people died here" when the quake struck Friday, he told AFP. "I'm looking for more bodies but I know there cannot be any survivors.
"We don't know how many bodies there could be but we are looking."
Damaged buildings in Mandalay, Myanmar, soon after a major earthquake that struck Myanmar on 28 March, 2025. Photo: AFP/ Xinhua - Myo Kyaw Soe
About an hour later, a small aftershock struck, sending people scurrying out of a hotel for safety, following a similar tremor felt late Saturday evening (local time).
Truckloads of firemen gathered at one of Mandalay's main fire stations to be dispatched to sites around the city.
The night before, rescuers had pulled a woman out alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building, with applause ringing out as she was carried by stretcher to an ambulance.
An earthquake survivor is carried as she waits to receive medical attention at a hospital in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2025, after an earthquake in central Myanmar. Photo: SAI AUNG MAIN / AFP
Myanmar's ruling junta said in a statement Saturday that at least 1644 people were killed and more than 3400 injured in the country, with at least 139 more missing.
But with unreliable communications, the true scale of the disaster remains unclear in the isolated military-ruled state, and the toll is expected to rise significantly.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid on Friday, indicating the severity of the calamity.
Previous military governments have shunned foreign assistance, even after major natural disasters.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued an exceptionally rare appeal for international aid, indicating the severity of the calamity. Photo: AFP/SAI AUNG MAIN
Myanmar has already been ravaged by four years of civil war sparked by a military coup in 2021.
Anti-junta fighters in the country have declared a two-week partial ceasefire in quake-affected regions starting Sunday, the shadow "National Unity Government" said in a statement.
The UN said overnight that a severe lack of medical equipment is hindering Myanmar's response to the quake, while aid agencies have warned that Myanmar is unprepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.
Some 3.5m people were displaced by the raging civil war, many at risk of hunger, even before the quake struck.
Rescue teams and aid have been arriving from donor countries around the world, with Thailand on Sunday dispatching 55 military personnel and six rescue dogs, along with equipment including cranes and diggers.
Bangkok building collapse
Across the border in Thailand, rescuers in Bangkok worked Sunday to pluck out survivors trapped when a 30-storey skyscraper under construction collapsed after the Friday earthquake.
At least 17 people have been killed in the Thai capital, city authorities said on Sunday, with 32 injured and 83 still missing.
Rescue workers walk past debris of a construction site after a building collapsed in Bangkok on March 28, 2025, following an earthquake. Photo: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Most of the deaths were workers killed in the tower collapse, while most of the missing are believed to be trapped under the immense pile of debris where the skyscraper once stood.
Workers at the site used large mechanical diggers in an attempt to find victims still trapped on Sunday morning.
Sniffer dogs and thermal imaging drones have also been deployed to seek signs of life in the collapsed building, close to the Chatuchak weekend market popular among tourists.
Authorities said they would be deploying engineers to assess and repair 165 damaged buildings in the city on Sunday.
- AFP / RNZ
