One month after Myanmar's earthquake, many are still looking for loved ones

HUNDREDS of thousands of survivors desperately need humanitarian aid a month after Myanmar’s deadly earthquake, compounded by airstrikes 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

AP cited state-run MRTV television reporting on Monday that the quake’s death toll had reached 3,770, with 5,106 people injured and 106 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. MRTV reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the ruling military council, and his colleagues performed the same ceremony in Naypyitaw.

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.

“These attacks have not 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. - April 29, 2025