The shaking stopped, but the nightmare didn’t. By Saturday night, March 29, 2025, at least 1,644 people were dead in Myanmar after a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit just outside Mandalay the day before. And with roads busted, no power, and barely any gear, people are digging through the rubble with their bare hands, hoping to find someone still breathing. The quake hit at 12:50 p.m. Friday, only 10 kilometers deep, just outside Sagaing, and close enough to flatten homes and snap bridges like matchsticks—including the Inwa Bridge over the Irrawaddy River. Myanmar’s military said 3,408 people were hurt, 139 missing, but the USGS warned that the real toll could rise past 10,000.
In Mandalay, things are grim. One rescuer said, “We’re digging people out with our hands. That’s all we’ve got.” No cranes, no machines—just people pulling at concrete with bleeding fingers. In one miracle, Phyu Lay Khaing, 30, was pulled out alive after 30 hours under a 12-story building. Her husband was there when they lifted her out. But the Red Cross says 90 others are still trapped in that same wreck. Not far from there, in Sintkai township, six kids—five girls and one boy—were found dead at a collapsed school. Twelve preschoolers and their teacher were crushed under another building. People are saying it’s worse than any bombing. Phones are dead. Lights are out. Roads are gone. And in places like Sagaing, where millions already live in tents from the war, help isn’t getting through. “We only rescue when we hear voices,” one Red Cross worker said. That’s all they can do—listen and dig.
In Amarapura, one man pulled out four people from a mosque that fell—three were already gone, and the fourth died in his arms. “Ten died there,” he said. Locals blame the crumbling, ignored buildings the government never fixed.
Military boss Min Aung Hlaing did something rare—he went on TV and asked the world for help. He declared emergencies in six regions. China sent over search teams and $13.8 million in aid. India, Russia, the UN, even the U.S. offered help. President Donald Trump called it “a real bad one.”
But with airstrikes still going on, blocked roads, and the junta deciding who gets what, the aid isn’t moving fast.
One guy in Mandalay told Reuters, “No rescue teams came. We’re just doing what we can.” Another man in Naypyidaw held his dead mom’s hand under rubble, whispering, “I’ll be good, rest easy.” The opposition called a two-week ceasefire to help rescue efforts, but the junta’s still bombing rebel towns. The war isn’t stopping for the quake. By Saturday night, AFP said the death count hit 1,644. In Bangkok, 10 more died when a high-rise fell during the quake, which hit over 600 miles away. It’s chaos. No power, no signal, and barely any help. People are out there with flashlights and shovels—if that—hoping for a sound, a whisper, anything. And for now, the only thing louder than the silence is the heartbreak.