BBC News
Getty ImagesThe Burmese city of Mandalay has become the “scene of a tragedy”, a survivor of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake which struck central Myanmar on Friday has told the BBC.
“It’s like a ruined city. Some are still stuck under rubble,” she said. “It was so severe. So severe that I have never seen anything shaking like that.”
“There are so many people injured at the general hospital,” she added, describing the damage across the city.
Another woman revealed how she could hear the voices of people trapped inside a hotel which had collapsed.
“I can hear mothers crying, friends, because their children are still inside the building. It’s desperate to watch,” the woman – a teacher – said.
“This earthquake is a total disaster,” she continued. “We need help.”
According to official figures, at least 144 people have lost their lives in Myanmar, with more than 700 injured.
But building up a clear picture of exactly what is happening across the South East Asian nation is not easy.
Access has been limited since 2021, when the military took power following a coup. Foreign journalists are rarely allowed to enter officially due to a lack of press freedom.
Many of the people who spoke to the BBC, and other agencies, did not give their names for security reasons.
ReutersA resident in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, told the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme the shakes were “quite intense” and lasted for around four minutes.
The man, who wished to stay anonymous for security reasons, described waking from a nap to the building shaking violently.
“It lasted around three to four minutes,” he said. “I was receiving messages from friends and realising that it was not just in Yangon, but also many places across the country.”
The tremors were so strong they were felt well beyond Myanmar’s borders – in China and Thailand.
In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, social media images showed collapsed buildings, including parts of the historic royal palace.
A 90-year-old bridge crumbled, while sections of the main highway linking Yangon to the city were torn apart.
Myanmar officials declared a “mass casualty area” at Nay Pyi Taw General Hospital in the country’s capital, where patients lay on gurneys outside, intravenous drips hanging from makeshift stands.
The military junta also made a rare appeal for international assistance, declaring a state of emergency across six regions.
“We want the international community to send humanitarian aid as soon as possible,” Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said.
Shin Thant Sanar, a student from Myanmar at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC she woke up to a frantic call from her mother. Panic filled her mother’s voice as she said buildings had collapsed all around her.
“Moments later, my aunt walked in, crying; she had lost everything. It was a heart-breaking moment, made even worse when phone lines were cut off,” the student said.
None of her family was injured, “but the destruction is overwhelming”, she said.
“As it was Friday prayer time there, I learned that many people were inside mosques which also collapsed, injuring many and causing fatalities.
“The streets and buildings I grew up around are now unrecognisable.”
Additional reporting by James Kelly, Andrée Massiah, Bernadette McCague and Liz Roberts
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