Yangon: The death toll from the earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday rose to 1,002, with 2,376 injured and 30 people still reported missing.
According to Qatar News Agency, in a statement today carried by state media, Myanmar's ruling military council said that infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and buildings has been damaged, resulting in civilian casualties. The statement added that search and rescue operations are currently underway in the affected areas.
State media also reported that as rescue efforts continue, international aid has begun arriving in the disaster-hit regions. Rescuers are still working to find survivors under the rubble amid fears that the death toll may rise in the coming days.
In this context, a Chinese rescue team arrived in Myanmar today, while Russia and the United States have offered assistance following the disaster, which also damaged hundreds of buildings in neighboring Thailand.
South Korea also announced the provision of $2 million in humanitarian aid through international organizations to support relief efforts in Myanmar. General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council, warned on Friday that the number of dead and injured could rise, calling on the international community to provide aid and donations to support relief operations.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) indicated that its predictive models estimate that the death toll could exceed 10,000 people, given the widespread destruction, which may have an economic impact greater than the country's GDP. The city of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest, was among the hardest-hit areas due to its proximity to the earthquake's epicenter.
On Friday, the USGS reported that a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar. The quake occurred 16 kilometers northwest of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10 kilometers.
At the same time, Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, experienced another earthquake measuring 7.3 in magnitude. The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) stated that the epicenter of this quake was in Myanmar, resulting in several deaths and injuries, as well as significant infrastructure damage in both countries.