THE United States has pledged $2 million in aid as the death toll from Myanmar’s earthquake hits 1,700 on Sunday.
The United States announced in a statement that it will provide aid “through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organisations,” and confirmed that a USAID emergency response team, despite facing significant budget cuts under the Trump administration, is being deployed to Myanmar.
“The destruction has been extensive, and humanitarian needs are growing by the hour,” the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.
“With temperatures rising and the monsoon season approaching in just weeks, there is an urgent need to stabilise affected communities before secondary crises emerge.”
The ICIR reported that the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake, one of Myanmar’s strongest in a century, struck the war-torn Southeast Asian nation on Friday.
According to the military government, as of Sunday, the disaster had left approximately 1,700 people dead, 3,400 injured, and over 300 missing.
Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey’s predictive model estimates that Myanmar’s death toll could surpass 10,000, with losses potentially exceeding the country’s annual economic output.
Similarly, the junta chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, warned that the death toll could rise and acknowledged the challenges his administration is facing.
Myanmar has received relief materials and teams from neighboring India, China, and Thailand, as well as aid and personnel from Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia.
However, residents in the epicenter, told Reuters that government assistance was scarce, leaving people to fend for themselves.
In response, Min Aung Hlaing told officials on Saturday that, “It is necessary to restore the transportation routes as soon as possible. It is necessary to fix the railways and also reopen the airports so that rescue operations would be more effective.”
The disaster has added to Myanmar’s suffering, which is already engulfed in chaos due to a civil war that erupted following the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
While the ongoing conflict continues to devastate the economy, displace over 3.5 million people, and cripple the health system, the earthquake has severely damaged bridges, highways, airports, and railways across Myanmar, a country of 55 million hampering humanitarian efforts.
Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government, which includes members of the former administration, announced that anti-junta militias under its command would suspend all offensive military actions for two weeks starting Sunday.
The ICIR reported that the quake also shook parts of neighbouring Thailand, bringing down an under-construction skyscraper and killing 18 people across the capital, according to Thai authorities.
At least 76 people remained trapped under the debris of the collapsed Bangkok building, where rescue operations continued for a third day, using drones and sniffer dogs to hunt for survivors.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.