More than 3,800 people in Myanmar -- and around 90 more in neighbouring Thailand -- were killed when the 7.7-magnitude tremor struck on March 28, 2025. AFP was the only international news agency on the ground in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw when the quake hit, with its team the first international journalists to reach the city of Mandalay. Mandalay, an ancient royal capital hemmed by jungle-clad mountains and the snaking Irrawaddy river, bore the brunt of the damage. - 'When the sky falls' -Some of the buildings at the Thahtay Kyaung monastery, where saffron-clad monks cleared rubble from the wreckage by hand in the days after the quake, have been razed. "Like the saying, 'When the sky falls, it falls on everyone.'"

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha April 01, 2026 17:45 UTC