0:00
Panic filled the streets as buildings fell in the biggest earthquake to hit Myanmar in a century
0:06
The earthquake centered around the Sagaying Fault, running from central to northern Myanmar
0:11
Mandalay, the country's second largest city with a population of 1.5 million, lies close to the epicenter
0:17
In Mandalay, it's so desperate. Mandalay, it's just 12 miles away from the epic center and the damaging of infrastructures, the buildings, the roads cracking
0:30
The airport's tower was just falling, and I have never seen anything like that in my life before
0:35
The destruction is particularly severe due to poorly adapted construction methods. The majority of the population lives in buildings made of timber and unreinforced masonry
0:47
Damage from the earthquake was compounded by the chaos of an ongoing civil war in the country
0:52
Let's not forget that this was already one of the world's most complex crises, even before this earthquake
0:58
around 30% of people in Myanmar were already in need of humanitarian assistance
1:03
So we can only imagine how great the needs are. In 2021, a junta led by General Min Ong Klein took control of the country in a military coup
1:16
Protests against the junta quickly turned into a bloody, armed rebellion. And years of fighting have displaced over 3.5 million people
1:24
The military government has also placed restrictions on the tax. telecommunications network, making it difficult to gather more information about the fallout
1:33
of the earthquake. The scale of the disaster has led to a rare outreach to the international community by the government
1:40
Min-on-Kang has asked any country to provide aid and donations