Aftershocks rattle earthquake-devastated Myanmar as military bombs rebel areas

Rescuers were still pulling survivors from the rubble when one of several aftershocks struck on Sunday, sending people in Mandalay — Myanmar’s second-largest city and the epicenter of Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake — screaming into the streets.

Rescuers were still pulling survivors from the rubble when one of several aftershocks struck on Sunday, sending people in Mandalay — Myanmar’s second-largest city and the epicenter of Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake — screaming into the streets.

Already suffering the brutal toll of four years of civil war, one of the world’s poorest countries is now facing the humanitarian crisis of a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 1,600 people and counting, as aid struggles to reach those in need amid buckled roads and crumbled infrastructure.

Adding to the injury, Myanmar’s ruling military junta continued to drop bombs as the civil war intersected with the natural disaster, deepening the crisis.

Friday’s earthquake has incapacitated the nation’s essential services and made critical stretches of its roads impassable. Hospitals are overwhelmed and running short on medical equipment and blood.

Phyu Lay Khaing is rescued from the rubble of the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay on Saturday.SAI AUNG MAIN / AFP - Getty ImagesDozens remain trapped at the Sky Villa Condominium.SAI AUNG MAIN / AFP - Getty ImagesPiles of debris and severely damaged roads, including the one that runs north to Mandalay from Naypyidaw, the capital, and Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, are slowing the entry of aid into the most affected areas, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian aid office, further challenged by “telecommunications and internet disruptions.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/aftershocks-earthquake-thailand-myanmar-military-bombs-rcna198750

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