A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, March 28, with tremors felt across the country and in neighboring Thailand. The epicenter was near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city. The full scale of the damage is unknown, but early reports state more than 100 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams working in Myanmar and Thailand are safe and accounted for.
Paul Brockmann, MSF's operations manager for Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Malaysia gave the following statement:
"Our medical humanitarian staff in Myanmar and neighboring countries have the capacity to respond at scale to the needs of affected communities as soon as authorities facilitate swift and unhindered access for teams to do assessments and provide medical care.
"Given the scale and intensity of the earthquake, the impact on people could be devastating, particularly for those who require immediate lifesaving assistance due to trauma injuries. We’re also concerned about those who will be vulnerable after losing shelter, access to general health care, and safe drinking water, which is crucial to control the possible spread of waterborne diseases.
"The ability to deploy assessment teams and, ideally, surgical capacity, are critical in the first hours and days after any earthquake if we hope to respond with life and limb-saving surgical care for people injured.
"To enable an effective response, swift access to affected areas and timely approval of essential supplies and personnel are critical."
Difficult to fully grasp the extent of the damage
Federica Franco, head of mission of MSF in Myanmar stated:
"While we are not in the areas that have been most impacted by the earthquake, all of our teams in the country really felt it, and all of our offices were also evacuated. It was a particularly long [earthquake], to be honest, which is also why it was scary for a lot of us.
"Thankfully, all of our staff are safe, but we are deeply concerned about the people in the affected areas. At this time, it's quite hard to fully grasp the extent of the damage.
"The situation is very complicated because there are significant communication blackouts in some of the hardest hit areas, and this is due to the ongoing conflict.
"On top of this, key roads have been damaged, and that includes the Express Highway that goes from Yangon to Naypyidaw and Mandalay. We had a team on the road earlier today, but they had to come back. Some of the airports are also closed.
"As you can imagine, this is making it incredibly challenging, not just to get information, but also to physically reach people who are urgently in need of help.
"Needless to say, MSF teams are ready to intervene, and our emergency response planning is underway. The priority for us at the moment is to deploy assessment teams, and ideally, an emergency trauma care team. To do so, however, we need access, and time is particularly critical in situations like these, especially for those who need immediate care."
MSF in Myanmar
MSF has been working in Myanmar since 1992, with a focus on providing HIV and tuberculosis care, emergency responses to national disasters and conflict, as well as support to the persecuted Rohingya people in Rakhine state.
