“It took round 4 to 5 minutes for the earthquake to shake after which it stopped and shook once more. It’s the most extreme earthquake I’ve skilled in my life.”
Esther J is a reporter based mostly in Bangkok, Thailand, greater than 600 miles (966km) away from her dwelling nation of Myanmar – the epicentre of final week’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
Described by the Pink Cross as inflicting a stage of devastation that “hasn’t been seen in over a century in Asia”, the earthquake has killed at the least 3,000 individuals in Myanmar with the determine anticipated to rise.
Esther has been chatting with survivors who’ve described relations trapped below the rubble and worshippers crushed throughout Friday prayers – however she has been unable to report from the nation itself due to the navy junta that continues to be in energy.
“The condominium I used to stay in earlier than the coup was already raided by the navy and likewise my checking account was frozen. It’s not secure for me to go inside Myanmar.”
Rebecca Ratcliffe, the Guardian’s south-east Asia correspondent, tells Hannah Moore that 4 years of navy rule and civil warfare had already left Myanmar in disaster earlier than the catastrophe. Meals insecurity was rife and healthcare techniques had been devastated. And but regardless of this, she describes how the navy has been conducting airstrikes in the course of the reduction efforts and blocking the motion of some worldwide support.
Within the final yr, the navy has suffered various battlefield defeats and its energy is now vastly diminished, reportedly controlling solely a fifth of the nation. Whereas some opposition teams consider that the autumn of the junta is inevitable, after calling for a ceasefire on Wednesday night time, Rebecca explains that the regime could also be making an attempt to show the tide and enhance relations with its most important supporter, China.
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