Myanmar Earthquake: Heavy Rains Compound Misery for Survivors

Relief efforts hampered and disease risk rises as downpours lash quake-hit regions.

 

Heavy rainfall has descended upon the areas of Myanmar devastated by last month's earthquake, significantly complicating the already challenging task of delivering aid and raising fears of disease outbreaks as the tragic death toll continues its grim ascent.

 

Officials coordinating the relief operation in Mandalay, the city bearing the brunt of the seismic activity that struck the Sagaing region on March 28th, reported on Sunday that torrential rain and strong winds battered the makeshift shelters housing displaced survivors overnight and into the morning. This fresh adversity has added considerably to the plight of those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.

 

Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' top aid official on the ground in Mandalay, described the scale of the destruction as "immense," stressing the urgent need for food, clean drinking water, temporary housing, and electricity for the surviving population.

 



 

The meteorological outlook offers little respite, with forecasters predicting further heavy downpours today, coupled with oppressive heat that could see temperatures soar to 37 degrees Celsius.

 

Aid agencies are now gravely concerned that this combination of unseasonal rainfall and intense heat could trigger outbreaks of communicable diseases, such as cholera, given that many survivors are currently living in tents in exposed open spaces.
  

The powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck late last month inflicted widespread damage across six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyidaw.

 

The tremor left numerous areas without power, severed telephone lines, and rendered roads and bridges impassable, making a comprehensive assessment of the devastation incredibly difficult.

 

This natural disaster has also intensified the existing humanitarian crisis stemming from the ongoing four-year civil conflict that followed the military coup.

 



 

According to state media reports, the number of fatalities resulting from the earthquake has now reached a staggering 3,471, with a further 4,671 individuals injured and 214 still unaccounted for.

 

The seismic event also caused significant structural damage, affecting 5,223 homes, 1,824 schools, 4,817 pagodas and monasteries, 167 hospitals and clinics, 169 bridges, 198 dams, and 184 sections of major roads.

 

The most extensive damage is concentrated in Sagaing City, situated close to the earthquake's epicentre, and the neighbouring city of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest urban centre. 



 

More than a week after the initial earthquake, aftershocks continue to rattle the region. A notable aftershock measuring 4.7 magnitude was recorded south of Mandalay on Friday.

 

Despite a pledge of at least $9 million in aid from the United States, the recent disbandment of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Myanmar is creating complications for the delivery of assistance to those affected by the earthquake.

 

It has been reported that three USAID officials who were deployed to assist survivors have been informed of their redundancy in the coming months.

 

Meanwhile, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of Myanmar's military junta, visited the encampment of the Chinese rescue team in Mandalay today to express his gratitude for their support in the search and rescue and relief operations.

(2025/04/07-00:00)