Myanmar military declares ceasefire to ease earthquake relief as toll passes 3,000

Heat and rain fuel risk of disease and hamper rescue efforts

The ruins of a hotel in Sagaing, Myanmar, where survivor Tin Maung Htwe was found. AFP

Myanmar's military leaders have announced a temporary ceasefire as the death toll from a devastating earthquake rose to more than 3,000 and desperate survivors pleaded for more help amid frantic scenes of aid distribution.

The shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake on Friday flattened buildings across Myanmar, killing nearly 3,000 people and making thousands more homeless. Deaths rose to 3,085 on Thursday, with 4,715 injured and 341 missing, the ruling junta said.

The military government said it would observe a ceasefire from Wednesday until April 22 to make quake relief efforts easier, after other armed groups fighting the country's bloody four-year civil war made similar pledges. The junta said the ceasefire had “the aim of speeding up relief and reconstruction efforts, and maintaining peace and stability”.

Rights groups and several foreign governments had earlier condemned the leaders for continuing to carry out air strikes as the country grappled with the quake aftermath.

But the junta warned its opponents – a complex array of pro-democracy and ethnic minority armed groups – that it would still respond to attacks, acts of sabotage or “gathering, organising and expanding territory that would undermine peace”.

It also said that its chairman, Min Aung Hlaing, will travel to Bangkok on Thursday for a summit of South Asian countries plus Myanmar and Thailand, where he will discuss the quake response. Many nations have sent aid and teams of rescue workers to Myanmar since the quake, but heavily damaged infrastructure and patchy communications – as well as the rumbling civil war – have hampered efforts.

The World Health Organisation has flagged a rising risk of cholera and other diseases in the worst-affected areas of Mandalay, Sagaing and the capital of Naypyitaw, while it prepared $1 million of relief supplies, including body bags.

But conditions could get even tougher for the huge relief effort, after weather officials warned that unseasonal rain forecast from Sunday to April 11 could threaten the areas hit hardest by the quake. The tremor worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.

More than 1,550 international rescuers were operating alongside locals on Thursday, according to a statement from the military. Rescue supplies and equipment have been sent by 17 countries

Aid donated by India to its earthquake-hit neighbour Myanmar upon its arrival at the Thilawa Port along the Yangon river. AFP

Trucks carrying relief supplies for the earthquake victims drive on the road in Yangon-Mandalay highway road, Bago region, Myanmar. EPA

Rescue workers stand on the street next to a collapsed building in Mandalay. AFP

Catholic nuns joins others as they hold candles while offering prayers for the country and also victims of the recent earthquake in Myanmar after a religious procession in observance of lent, in Quezon city, Philippines. AP

People queue for water from a donation water truck following a strong earthquake in Pyawbwe township, Mandalay, Myanmar. Reuters

Activists hold up pictures of Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing during a protest against his visit to Thailand and attending the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday. Reuters

People queue for food and relief supplies in Amarapura, Myanmar. Reuters

Bhutanese medical volunteers look at the chest scan of a patient at a make-shift tent in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. AP

Work on a collapsed building in Bangkok after a strong earthquake with its epicentre in Myanmar hit the region on March 28. Reuters

The collapsed Ava Bridge over the Irrawaddy River in Sagaing, Myanmar. AFP

Rescue teams from Indonesia prepare to leave for Myanmar. AFP

A dog unit works at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed in Bangkok. AP

Chinese rescuers search for earthquake victims at the collapsed Sky Villa in Mandalay, Myanmar. EPA

A worker transports the body of a victim to be buried at the Aye Yate Nyein Cemetery in Mandalay. AFP

A combination picture of satellite images of the tower in Bangkok, Thailand taken on December 25, 2024 and after it collapsed during an earthquake on March 28. Reuters

People queue for relief supplies near the earthquake's epicentre, in Sagaing, Myanmar. Reuters

A collapsed bridge near the epicentre in Sagaing. Reuters

Rescuers work to find residents trapped under the rubble of the collapsed Sky Villa Condominium development in Mandalay, Myanmar. AFP

Rescue workers assess a building that collapsed in Bangkok. EPA

Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of the Sky Villa Condominium building in Mandalay. AFP

A health worker helps a fainted rescuer at the Sky Villa. EPA

A Cambodian woman wipes her tear while waiting for news of her missing brother and sister-in-law at the site of an under-construction building collapse in Bangkok. AFP

Muslims offer morning prayers to start the Eid Al Fitr festival, marking the end of Ramadan, on a road near demolished mosques in Mandalay. AFP

The weather extremes will add to the challenges faced by aid and rescue groups, which have called for access to all affected areas despite the strife of civil war.

The military has struggled to run Myanmar since its return to power in a 2021 coup that unseated the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The generals have been internationally isolated since the takeover and Myanmar's economy and basic services, including health care, have been reduced to tatters amid the strife.

On Wednesday, state-run MRTV said a unilateral government ceasefire would take immediate effect for 20 days to support relief efforts after the quake, but warned authorities would “respond accordingly” if rebels launched attacks.

The move came after a major rebel alliance declared a ceasefire on Tuesday to assist the humanitarian effort.

Nearly a week after the quake, searchers in neighbouring Thailand hunting for survivors are combing a mountain of debris left after an under-construction tower in Bangkok collapsed. Rescuers are using mechanical diggers and bulldozers to break up 100 tonnes of concrete to locate any survivors after the disaster that killed 15 people, with 72 missing.

The overall death toll in Bangkok stands at 22, with 35 injured.

With reporting from agencies...