Four months after the earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28, 2025, the country remains scarred by one of the most devastating human disasters in its recent history. The quake claimed over 3,700 lives, destroyed entire communities, and crippled critical infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without shelter, forced to live outdoors under the constant threat of aftershocks. The impact extended as far as Thailand, where dozens were killed in Bangkok, highlighting the regional scale of the disaster.
The earthquake left nearly 200,000 people displaced across Myanmar, forcing many to live outdoors in fear, as frequent aftershocks and the approaching cyclone season added to their insecurity. The disaster caused widespread destruction of infrastructure, damaging thousands of homes, schools, hospitals, and roads, with losses estimated at $1.9 billion. It struck a country already in deep crisis, where years of civil conflict and the collapse of basic services had left millions in need of humanitarian aid. As a result, urgent needs for shelter, food, clean water, and medical care remain unmet, particularly in hard-hit areas like Mandalay.
In the weeks following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake, central Myanmar was shaken almost daily by aftershocks, including one as strong as magnitude 6.7, prompting many people to sleep outdoors in fear of further collapses. Monitoring of the seismic activity was severely hindered by the prior removal of most seismometers in the country due to challenges linked to the pandemic and the military coup.
The March 28, 2025, earthquake in Myanmar caused extraordinary ground displacement, with surface ruptures stretching over 460 km—twice the expected length for a quake of magnitude 7.7. Ground movement reached up to 5 meters in opposite directions, and the rupture, visible from satellites, cut through major areas including the capital Naypyitaw. Scientists believe the event was a rare "supershear" earthquake, where the rupture moved faster than the seismic waves it generated, similar to a sonic boom. This phenomenon likely amplified the shaking over long distances, helping explain why serious structural damage occurred as far away as Bangkok, nearly 1,000 km from the epicenter.
