WHO activates emergency management system

A devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked central Myanmar on the afternoon of March 28, causing terrible devastation and shaking the entire Southeast Asian region. (Source: Facebook)

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 28 activated its emergency management system and is mobilizing its logistics center in Dubai (United Arab Emirates - UAE) to prepare emergency medical supplies for the area hit by the earthquake disaster in Myanmar earlier that day.

A devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook central Myanmar on the afternoon of March 28, causing terrible devastation and shaking the entire Southeast Asian region.

While the Myanmar military government has not made an official announcement on the number of people killed in this earthquake, media agencies quoting sources have given different figures, with the death toll rising rapidly.

As of 9:30 p.m. Vietnam time, Xinhua news agency (China) quoted rescue organizations as saying that the earthquake had taken the lives of nearly 50 people in Myanmar and this number could increase in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted local media as saying that at least 80 people in Myanmar were killed, including 60 in the epicenter of Mandalay alone.

Sky News, citing sources from Myanmar's national television, even said that 144 people were killed and 732 injured in this disaster.

Speaking from WHO headquarters in Geneva, spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the agency considered it “a very serious threat to human life and health."

WHO is focusing on providing first aid supplies, essential medicines and external immobilisation equipment, as it estimates that many injured people will need treatment. The agency is also concerned that health infrastructure in Myanmar could be severely damaged.

“We are ready to act – but now we need to know exactly where, what happened and why. Information from the ground is critical right now,” Ms Harris said.

The earthquake struck at around 12:50 p.m. on March 28 (local time), with the epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city.

Witnesses said several buildings collapsed, while a mosque partially collapsed, killing about 10 people. Just 11 minutes after the first earthquake, a 6.4 magnitude aftershock shook the area.

Search and rescue efforts are still underway. Preliminary reports indicate that several apartment buildings, hospitals, schools and government offices have been damaged to varying degrees.

Several buildings on the school campus collapsed and an unknown number of students were buried.

Mandalay officials estimate that the number of dead and missing will be concentrated in the city center because many buildings here were damaged.
Myanmar's military government has called for international humanitarian aid and declared a state of emergency in six affected areas of the country.

In a statement on national television, Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the military government, called for blood donations as so many injured people had to be hospitalized.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/dong-dat-tai-myanmar-who-kich-hoat-he-thong-quan-ly-khan-cap-247616.html