The earthquake that struck Burma and its neighbouring countries on Friday has caused an immense human tragedy. Centring on Mandalay, destruction radiates outwards. Structurally unsound buildings collapsed on those inside them. Shoddily-build neighbourhoods fell in on their residents. Thousands are already officially declared dead. Many times that number are missing. The overall picture will take some time to grasp, as is often the case with disasters of this kind. The true death count will never be known, bodies vanishing beneath wrecked structures, never to be found and identified.
An event like this might be expected to have put on hold Burma’s civil war, which has been going in full swing since the 2021 coup, where the army displaced and jailed the technically civilian portion of the country’s government.
When the earthquake happened, the National Unity Government (NUG), an umbrella opposition coalition, declared a ceasefire so it could find the missing and bury the dead.
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