Myanmar quake death toll tops 1,600 as resistance movement announces partial ceasefire

BANGKOK — A unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts was announced Saturday by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, which coordinates the popular struggle against the ruling military. The country’s death toll from the disaster soared to 1,644.

The figure was a sharp rise compared with the 1,002 announced just hours earlier, highlighting the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s magnitude 7.7 quake. The number of injured and missing also increased, to 3,408 and 139, respectively.

The number of dead also rises in Thailand

In neighboring Thailand, the death toll increased to 10. The quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, home to around 17 million people, and other parts of the country. Many places in the north reported damage, but the only casualties were reported in Bangkok, the capital.

Nine of the fatalities were at the site of the collapsed high-rise under construction near Bangkok’s Chatuchak market, while 78 people were still unaccounted for.

On Saturday, more heavy equipment was brought in to move the tons of rubble, but hope was fading among friends and relatives.

“I was praying that they had survived, but when I got here and saw the ruin — where could they be?” 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.

Aid efforts in Myanmar hindered by damage to airports

In Myanmar, also known as Burma, rescue efforts so far are focused on the stricken major cities of Mandalay, the country’s No. 2 city, and Naypyidaw, the capital.

But even though teams and equipment have been flown in from other nations, they are hindered by damage to airports. Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the Associated Press show that the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyidaw International Airport as if sheared from its base.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether there had been any casualties from its collapse.

Myanmar’s civil war also an obstacle

Another major complication is the civil war roiling much of the country, including the quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need of assistance, according to the United Nations.

The interplay of politics and disaster was demonstrated Saturday night, when Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

It said its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force, would implement a two-week pause in offensive military operations starting Sunday in earthquake-affected areas and it would also collaborate with the U.N. and international nongovernmental organizations “to ensure security, transportation, and the establishment of temporary rescue and medical camps,” in the areas it controls.

Extensive damage in cities

The earthquake struck midday Friday with an epicenter not far from Mandalay, followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring magnitude 6.4. It sent buildings in many areas toppling to the ground, buckled roads and caused bridges to collapse.

In Naypyidaw, crews worked Saturday to repair damaged roads, while electricity, phone and internet service remained down for most of the city. The earthquake brought down many buildings, including multiple units that housed government civil servants, but that section of the city was blocked off by authorities Saturday.

An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that it’s allocating $5 million from a Central Emergency Response Fund for “life-saving assistance.”

The immediate planned measures include a convoy of 17 cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies from China that is expected to arrive Sunday, it said.

It noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anaesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”

Allies bringing in rescue crews and relief materials

Myanmar’s friends and neighbors have already brought in rescue personnel and relief materials. China and Russia are the largest suppliers of weapons to Myanmar’s military, and were among the first to step in with humanitarian aid.

In a country where prior governments sometimes have been slow to accept foreign aid, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military government, said that Myanmar was ready to accept outside assistance.

China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies including medical kits and generators, and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies, and the country’s Health Ministry said it had sent a medical team to Myanmar.

Other countries including India, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore are also sending help, and President Trump said Friday that the United States was going to help with the response — though some experts were skeptical, as his administration has sharply curtailed foreign aid.

The ceasefire plan announced by the opposition National Unity Government also proposed to provide healthcare professionals loyal to its resistance movement to work with international humanitarian organizations to deliver emergency rescue and medical services in areas under the military’s control, if provided with safety guarantees.

The military had heavily restricted much-needed aid to the large population already displaced by war even before the quake. Sympathizers of the resistance have urged that relief efforts incorporate aid freely transported to areas under the control of the resistance, so it can’t be weaponized by the army.

There was no immediate comment by the military to the opposition’s announcement.

Military forces continued their attacks even after the quake, with three airstrikes in northern Kayin state, also called Karenni state, and southern Shan — both of which border Mandalay state, said Dave Eubank, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who founded the Free Burma Rangers, a private aid organization.

Eubank told the AP that in the area he was operating in, most villages have already been destroyed by the military so the earthquake had little impact.

“People are in the jungle, and I was out in the jungle when the earthquake hit — it was powerful, but the trees just moved, that was it for us, so we haven’t had a direct impact other than that the Burma army keeps attacking, even after the quake,” he said.

Earthquakes are rare in Bangkok, but relatively common in Myanmar. The country sits on the Sagaing fault, a major north-south fault that separates the India plate and the Sunda plate.

Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, said that the quake caused intense ground shaking in an area where most of the population lives in buildings constructed of timber and non-reinforced brick masonry.

“When you have a large earthquake in an area where there are over a million people, many of them living in vulnerable buildings, the consequences can often be disastrous,” he said in a statement.

Peck and Saksornchai write for the Associated Press. AP writers David Rising and Jerry Harmer in Bangkok, Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.