Global aid pours in for disaster relief

Int'l communities mobilize resources as toll from Myanmar quake rises to 1,700

Countries and international communities including China, the United Nations and ASEAN are delivering aid to Myanmar while foreign rescue teams are racing to save more lives from among the ruins in Myanmar following Friday's powerful earthquakes.

As of Sunday, rescue and medical teams from countries such as Belarus, Singapore, India, Malaysia and Thailand have been at work in Myanmar searching for survivors.

About 1,700 people died, 3,400 were injured, and 300 remained missing in the earthquake in Myanmar, according to the country's State Administration Council on Sunday. The numbers could rise further.

Fourteen Chinese nationals were injured in the quake in Myanmar, the Chinese embassy in Myanmar confirmed on Sunday afternoon.

At least three rescue teams from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have managed to locate some of the injured at collapsed buildings in Myanmar. A 79-member military task force from Vietnam also departed for Myanmar on Sunday afternoon to assist with earthquake search and rescue operations, and post-disaster recovery efforts, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Myanmar's State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing visited Ottara Thiri Private Hospital in Nay Pyi Daw, the Myanmar capital, on Sunday and thanked a Chinese rescue team from Yunnan province which was the first to arrive among international teams for rescue efforts. The council has called for international assistance for disaster relief.

The World Health Organization is looking to move Emergency Medical Teams into Myanmar amid reports of insufficient medical supplies, including trauma kits to treat injured people, blood bags for transfusion, anesthetics, assisted devices, other essential medicines, and tents for health workers.

In a statement on Saturday, Marcoluigi Corsi, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, said the UN and its partners are urgently mobilizing to support emergency response efforts and stand ready to assist all affected communities.

He estimated that around 20 million people have been impacted by the quake.

The United Nations allocated $5 million in aid to Myanmar, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general.

The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Kao Kim Hourn, joined ASEAN foreign ministers and the foreign minister of Timor-Leste in a special emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss ASEAN's humanitarian aid to Myanmar in the wake of the devastating earthquake.

Emergency assistance

Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said on Sunday that the kingdom would provide $100,000 in initial emergency assistance to Myanmar.

With its epicenter about 392 kilometers from Pang Mapha district in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, the earthquake — measured 7.9-magnitude by the China Earthquake Network Center and 7.7-magnitude by US counterparts — also affected Thailand and other neighboring countries. The last earthquake of a similar scale in the region was recorded in the 1830s.

Bangkok and 10 other provinces suffered severe damage. In Thailand, at least 17 people were killed with 77 missing.

Thai Department of Fine Arts said on Sunday that its Archaeological Division conducted inspections at historical sites in Bangkok and found no significant damage caused by the earthquake. But some historical sites in northern Thailand suffered cracks in the walls or bases of halls and stupas.

After the earthquake, the King of Thailand extended royal medical care to all the injured. Thai state banks have rolled out urgent financial relief measures to help citizens and affected businesses.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held an urgent meeting on Saturday to address the earthquake's impact and coordinate solutions, urging immediate improvement of public alerts via SMS and the development of a cell broadcast system within three months.

Paetongtarn urged enhanced coordination between the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to provide timely updates on road closures and alternative routes.

To ensure public safety after the earthquake, a complete list of emergency hotlines has been compiled by the Thai government. These fully operational services cover rescue, medical, structural damage, mental health, and travel needs, and are coordinated across government agencies.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake was triggered by horizontal slipping of land, known as "strike-slip "faults. The agency noted that this fault type is the same as the one responsible for the powerful earthquake in the Kumamoto prefecture of southwestern Japan in 2016, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

New Zealand said it will donate 2 million New Zealand dollars ($1.14 million) through the International Red Cross to support emergency response in Myanmar.