Myanmar earthquake: A complex catastrophe

A huge earthquake hit Myanmar Friday, causing widespread destruction. The death toll has risen to 1,700 — but that figure could rise further if aid workers are able to reach the country's remote regions.

Social media images from Mandalay, a city of 1.6 million located close to the epicenter, show entire streets where every second house has collapsed or been damaged. According to the United Nations, around 20 million people in the country are said to be dependent on humanitarian aid.

Electricity and phone lines in central Myanmar only work sporadically, if at all. DW has reached people in Yangon who have been waiting anxiously for hours for news from friends and families in Mandalay.

Despair and powerlessness

Tun Myint* told DW that his friends escaped the earthquake with their lives. But because they fear the quake's aftershocks and worry their house is no longer safe, they are hunkering down on the streets.

"They speak of hearing calls for help from trapped people. But there is little they can do. There is a lack of heavy equipment. And if that's the case in Mandalay, what must it be like in remote, more isolated regions?"

The earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, caused further destruction to a country that is already badly scarred from an intense phase of civil war since the coup in 2021. The epicenter was near the city of Sagaing, not far from Mandalay — one of the most fiercely contested regions in the civil war.

Even before the earthquake, the infrastructure had been severely damaged by the military regime's bombing and the fighting between various factions. According to the United Nations Development Program, one in four people have been living in poverty since COVID-19 and the civil war, while the UN Refugee Agency has recorded 3.6 million internally displaced persons in Myanmar.

Red Cross officials have said the aftermath of the earthquake in Myanmar is a level of devastation that hasn’t been seen over a century in Asia.Image: STR/AFP

The tremors destroyed countless residential buildings, university buildings and, above all, hospitals, fire stations and health centers.

The airports in Mandalay and the new capital Naypiydaw were also damaged, with many bridges and roads rendered impassable. The worst-affected regions are controlled by a patchwork of different actors in the civil war, making relief efforts even more challenging.

Not an earthquake: This photo taken on August 24, 2024 shows a house in the town of Lashio in the north of the country that burned down during fighting between the military government and the rebel group Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).Image: AFP/Getty Images

Desperate need for aid 

Tun Myint does not believe that the parties to the civil war will work together in the face of the disaster. "All sides [in the civil war] will try to profit from the situation."

The military junta has already appealed to the international community for help. Russia, China, India, Singapore, the US and the EU have pledged aid. The first relief supplies and search teams have arrived in the country.

The National Unity Government (NUG) has announced a 14-day unilateral ceasefire in the wake of the earthquake. Myanmar's government-in-exile is made up of elected parliamentary representatives who emerged from the 2020 elections. It has been organizing the armed struggle against the military government since the 2021 coup.

'People need all the help they can get'

Swe Maung*, who is from Mandalay but fled to Chiang Mai in Thailand because of the civil war, believes that the military government under the leadership of General Min Aung Hlaing has an advantage. "The fallout from the quake will be a boost for Min Aung Hlaing and the State Administrative Council. The National Unity Government is falling behind because it doesn't have the infrastructure to help.

"Honestly, at this moment, I don't care who wins the war," says Tun Myint. "The people need all the help they can get."

Spiritual catastrophe

In addition to the material disaster, Myanmar was also hit spiritually. Many important pagodas, including the Mahamuni Buddha Pagoda in Mandalay, were badly damaged. It is the country's second most important shrine, after the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

Spiritual desolation: Buddhist monks look at a destroyed temple in the capital Naypyitaw.Image: /AP/picture alliance

"The earthquake has deeply shaken the identity of the Bamar people," says Tun Myint. According to the Buddhist majority in Myanmar, "everything a person achieves or suffers in their life is the result of their deeds from a previous life," he explains. "Every happiness and every suffering is therefore always justified."

This is why there is a collective karma, a kind of national Myanmar karma. The earthquake is, therefore, also a spiritual catastrophe.

Elephants for fighter jets

This spiritual level also plays an important role in the civil war, as can be seen from the behavior of prime minister and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing. He is not only taking military action against the resistance in his own country, but he is also having the world's largest marble Buddha built in Naypyidaw.

Allies: At his meeting with Putin (left) in Moscow in March this year, Myanmar's ruler Min Aung Hlaing (right) expressed confidence that Russia would defeat Ukraine.Image: Pavel Bednyakov/AP/picture alliance

The head of the military junta sees himself as a defender of Buddhism. During a state visit to Russia at the beginning of March, he presented President Putin with a rare book from 1942.

It tells of an alleged prophecy from the time of the Buddha, according to which a Russian king and master of weapons would usher in a golden age of Buddhism centuries later. Min Aung Hlaing was confident that Putin would be victorious in Ukraine.

During the state visit, six elephants from Myanmar were symbolically exchanged for six Russian fighter jets. Material and spiritual power are closely intertwined in Myanmar.

Historical parallels

In contrast to opposition politician Swe Maung*, who fled to Thailand, Nyein Win*, who lives in Yangon, is convinced that the quake is a serious blow to the junta. It is a clear sign that the end of the junta is near, she tells DW.

A parallel to the severe earthquake of 1930 also plays a role here. It had a similar magnitude to Friday's quake. At that time, the umbrella fell from the top of the Shewdagon Pagoda, which was interpreted as a sign of a serious national crisis.

In the same year, there was a major uprising against British rule, and the "Dobama Asiayone" (We Burmese Society) was formed, which led the political struggle against the colonial rulers for decades and contributed significantly to the country's independence.

This historical parallel is significant because many people see the current military government as a colonial power in their own country that, like the British, must be driven out.

The German Myanmar expert and theologian Hans-Bernd Zöllner also believes that this spiritual dimension can have a significant impact on the future of the country. "After all, faith moves mountains. But the spiritual is never clear-cut."

In Zöllner's view, it would be best "if the opposing camps in Myanmar sat down together to look for ways out of the deadlocked situation in the interests of the population. This would require both sides to realize that each has its own part to play in the country's misfortune. However, this is rather unlikely."

* The names of the interviewees, who fear for their safety, have been changed for their protection.

This article was translated from German.