By Nat Sumon, Mithil Aggarwal and Max Butterworth
BANGKOK — The death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar climbed to more than 2,700 Tuesday, as the scale of the destruction in the isolated, war-torn Southeast Asian nation became clearer.
The military-led government declared a national week of mourning Monday, three days after the midday earthquake shook Myanmar and neighboring Thailand. Hopes are fading for people trapped beneath rubble in both countries with the passing of a crucial 72-hour rescue window after which survival rates fall sharply.
A Buddhist monk walks past the damaged Mandalay Palace on Monday. Sebastien Berger / AFP via Getty Images
Nonetheless, a 63-year-old woman was found alive early Tuesday in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, more than 90 hours after the quake. Dozens of monks are believed to be trapped under rubble after the quake sent monasteries in the Buddhist-majority country collapsing under their own weight.
Rescue efforts are also continuing in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where the quake sent high-rises swaying and collapsed a 30-story building under construction. At least 20 people died in Bangkok, most of them at the site of the collapsed building, where on Tuesday rescuers were using heavy machinery to move big slabs of cement as scores of workers remained trapped in the rubble.
Rescue teams scouring through the rubble of a collapsed building in Bangkok on Tuesday.Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP via Getty Images
Thai authorities said Monday they were investigating how the building collapsed amid questions about its design and compliance with safety codes.
Myanmar’s ruling junta, which grabbed power in a 2021 coup, said the government is expecting deaths in excess of 3,000 across the country of 54 million, where search-and-rescue efforts have been complicated by crumbled roads, power outages and lack of heavy machinery. Large parts of the country are also under the control of rebel forces that have been battling the junta in a four-year civil war.
A Muslim woman cries while offering morning prayers to mark the end of Ramadan in Mandalay on Monday.Sai Aung Main / AFP via Getty Images
The earthquake has further damaged infrastructure in Myanmar, one of the world’s poorest countries, making the full extent of the damage difficult to assess. Telecom networks have been disrupted nationwide, slowing aid delivery, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
In Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay, which is near the epicenter of the quake, 50 children and two teachers at a preschool were killed when the earthquake struck, the United Nations humanitarian office said. More than 10,000 buildings have collapsed or suffered severe damage in central and northern Myanmar, it added.
Buddhist monks clearing rubble at the damaged Thahtay Kyaung monastery in Mandalay on Tuesday.Sai Aung Main / AFP via Getty Images
Images from the city showed towering buildings and temples collapsed, roads cracked and sprawling tents set up for surviving residents to find refuge after their homes were reduced to rubble.
While rescue teams from China, Russia, India, Thailand and other countries were in Myanmar within the first day or two after the quake, the U.S. team appeared to still be en route as of Tuesday evening. The State Department denied Monday that the delay was due to President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which administers civilian foreign aid.
Residents took shelter in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay on Tuesday.Sai Aung Main / AFP via Getty Images
“I would reject the premise that the sign of success is that we are physically there,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Nat Sumon reported from Bangkok, Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong and Max Butterworth from London.
Max Butterworth
