Need to ramp up relief efforts in Myanmar, says UN as earthquake toll rises to 3,354

The death toll from last week’s massive earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 3,354, state media said on Saturday, as UN agencies and foreign aid donors continued to ramp up their emergency relief efforts.

The 7.7 magnitude quake hit a wide swath of the country, causing significant damage to six regions and states including the capital Naypyitaw.

The earthquake left many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess.

It also worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN.

Myanmar’s second most powerful quake in history The military government’s leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has said the earthquake was the second most powerful in the country’s recorded history after a magnitude 8 quake east of Mandalay in May 1912.

A report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Saturday said that the death toll from the March 28 disaster has reached 3,354, with 4,850 injured and 220 missing.

India on Saturday delivered a large consignment of food aid to at Thilawa Port in the southern coastal area to the Yangon region’s chief minister as part of its ongoing Operation Brahma. India delivered the first tranche of relief material to in less than 24 hours.

Describing India and China as rich countries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said while America is willing to continue to help those affected by the Myanmar earthquake, other countries should also pitch in to provide humanitarian assistance during such crises worldwide.

“Well, we’re not the government of the world. No, we will provide assistance and do it the best we can. But we also have other needs we have to balance that against. We’re not walking away from humanitarian assistance,” Rubio said.