Myanmar asks for help after devastating earthquake

Myanmar asks for help after devastating earthquake

On Friday, an earthquake of the strength 7.7 shook the heart of the war -plagued Myanmar and demanded numerous lives. The country's military government unusually asked for international help. The quake hit a variety of regions in Southeast Asia and broadcast frightening shocks from rural villages, which are in the middle of the civil war in Myanmar, right down to the glittering high -rise buildings of the busy Thai capital Bangkok. Even in the remote and mountainous province of Yunnan in Southwest China, shocks were felt.

shocking losses and international emergency aid

At least 144 people lost their lives and more than 730 were injured, said the head of the military government Myanmar on Friday evening. Deaths were also reported in Thailand. Estimates of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that the final number of victims could exceed 10,000, based on early forecasts that are based on "high number of victims and extensive damage".

Myanmar's desperate call for help

min aung hlaing, the leader of the military government of Myanmar, explained the emergency and directed an "open call to organizations and countries that are willing to help people in our country". This illustrates the extent of the devastation that the tremor in the country brought with it, which its population largely cut off from the outside world during the four -year civil war.

Different rescue requirements in Myanmar and Thailand

The rescue measures are expected to vary greatly between the two countries. Myanmar, one of the poorest countries of Asia, has a long and problematic story in dealing with large natural disasters, international help offers were often rejected and damage was made publicly down. In contrast, the adjacent Thailand is wealthy and a popular tourist destination, with well -equipped and experienced rescue teams.

rescue campaigns in Bangkok

In Bangkok, the rescue measures concentrate on the location of a high -rise building that was under construction during the tremor and collapsed. Thai authorities fear that more than 100 people, mainly construction workers, are enclosed under the building, which was built by a state Chinese company and is now made of twisted steel and broken concrete.

Sunan Kenkiat, 31 years old, worked at the building of the building before collapsing. "It wobbled and I felt dizzy," said Kenkiat about the moment when the skyscraper began to fluctuate. "After that, debris started to fall like cement pieces, and wobbling grew stronger, so I called everyone to run away." He heard three "explosions", and when his gaze was filled with white dust, he knew that the building would collapse. He managed to get into certainty, but many of his colleagues remain included.

by Friday evening at 10 p.m. (11 a.m.) at least 10 people were killed in the Thai capital due to the quake, said the deputy governor of Bangkok, Tavida Kamolvej.

Myanmar's desperate location

Myanmar has been in the tumbling Civil War for four years, which was triggered by a bloody and economically destructive military coup. The areas controlled by the military fight rebels, which makes the compilation of reliable information extremely difficult. According to reports, almost 80% of the country is outside the control of the military and is controlled by various ethnic armed groups. According to a state director of an international NGO, you cannot get a complete overview of the situation.

The reports on damage are not yet complete, but the destruction is expected to be “difficult”, according to the director of the International Rescue Committee in Myanmar. The lack of available information is partly due to interrupted communication lines and transport disorders. The emergency director emphasized that the “damage to infrastructure and apartments, the loss of life and injuries in the affected communities should not be underestimated.”

appeal to the international community

Human Rights Watch has asked the ruling Junta to grant humanitarian organizations free access, since the earthquake "could not have been worse at one point" for the war -tiled land. Tom Andrew, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, emphasized that the earthquake is “a disaster on another disaster”. With over 20 million people who are already dependent on humanitarian aid, and about 3.5 million internally displaced persons, "I will take the idea of what will happen in the next few days during the rescue operations," said Andrew.

A resident of Mandalay said that they are not sure whether they would survive the earthquake. "The quake was very strong, we couldn't run out of the building immediately," said Kyaw, 26, under a pseudonym. "It was as if the whole building would collapse. I wasn't sure if I would come out alive."

The quake occurred at 12:50 p.m. local time near Mandalay, the former royal capital with around 1.5 million inhabitants and numerous historical temple complexes and palaces. Several aftershocks followed, including one with a magnitude of 6.4, reports the USGS.

The epicenter was registered in the central Sagaing region Myanmar, suffering from the civil war. The Junta, government -related militias and rebels fight for control and all operate control points that makes traveling to land or water extremely difficult. The area is mostly rural, with residential buildings that are mainly made of wood and thatch. Communication in the region is often poorly available due to sporadic battles between the Junta and the rebels.

in the city of Taunghoo, 70 miles south of the capital Naypyidaw, three people were killed when a mosque partially collapsed, Reuters reported. A resident in Yangon, Myanmar's trading center, about 380 miles from the epicenter, said: "We felt the quake for about a minute and then ran out of the building."

"We saw other people who also ran out of the buildings. It was very sudden and very strong." Another resident noted that the telephone networks in the city with around 8 million inhabitants were exposed shortly after the quake, but now work again. A Yangoner named Wang, who was on the 20th floor of a building when the tremor broke out, reported: "People next to me were very scared."

"The quake felt so strong and lasted really long," said Wang, who did not want to name her first name. A video from Myanmar preserved by CNN seemed to show how a road bridge over the Irrawaddy River, which flows through Mandalay, collapsed in a cloud of dust and water.

This story has been updated with developments.

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