Nature has again revealed the storm behind her calmness. A catastrophic 7.7 earthquake devastated Myanmar today, March 28th, around 6:21 a.m. GMT, leaving a trail of destruction and chaos in its wake.
The disaster affected Mandalay International Airport, Mandalay University, multiple buildings, and roads buckled, causing unexpected damages. This incident has left many homeless, with at least 144 dead, 43 workers trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building, and more than 730 others injured.
Footage of the earthquake on X, formally known as Twitter, by @VertigoWarrior revealed the intensity of the disaster. Construction workers were seen running from a high-rise building under construction. Due to the intensity of the earthquake, the Myanmar government has declared a state of emergency in six regions.
Earthquakes don’t just occur, they happen when huge slabs of rock that make up the earth’s crust, known as tectonic plates, move against each other.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), this disaster occurred due to “strike-slip faulting” between the Indian and Eurasia plates. This means that these two tectonic plates rubbed sideways against each other.
Bill McGuire, emeritus Professor of geology and climate hazards at University College London said, “The quake happened on the Sagaing fault, which marks the tectonic plate boundary between the Indian plate to the west and the Eurosian plate to the east. The Indian plate is moving north along the fault compared to the Eurasian plate.”
Sunan Kenkiat, a 31-year-old construction worker at the unfortunate site narrated his escape from the building before it crumbled. “It was shaking and I felt dizzy. After that, debris like cement pieces started falling. The shaking got stronger, so I shouted for everyone to run.”
Following the 7.7 earthquake which cuts through Southeast Asia in the middle of Myanmar’s Civil war, the Country’s military has made a rare plea for international aid as the death toll rises.