The epicentre of the earthquake on March 28 was in Myanmar, close to Mandalay. The city was hit hard. Daw Soe Soe and her husband and seven children had a multi-story house in the city. Because of the earthquake, their house has become uninhabitable. It is still standing, but the risk of collapse is too great to return.
Daw Soe Soe saw neighbours buried under rubble after earthquake in Myanmar
She witnessed it with her own eyes: the impact of the earthquake in Myanmar. Daw Soe Soe (53) lives with her husband and seven children in Mandalay, a city in the middle of the country. Many houses there have collapsed. She says: "I saw about seventeen people buried under the rubble, and we couldn’t do anything to help them."
8 April 2025
Shelter in nearby monastery
During the quake, she fled with her family to the grounds of a nearby monastery. They are still sleeping there on mats they are allowed to borrow from the monks.
Tearfully, she talks about the moment the earthquake struck her city. “It all happened so fast. We ran outside immediately, looking for safety. My son was still asleep, and I was cooking when it happened. Fortunately, we all survived.”
People buried under rubble
She is well aware that things could have ended very differently. “I saw about seventeen people disappear under the rubble of collapsing houses right before my eyes. They were celebrating a birthday party. Even as we ran across the street, we saw houses collapsing. People were trapped under the rubble, and we couldn’t help them. That felt terrible.”
Her own house didn’t collapse, but that doesn’t mean she can return. “It’s too dangerous. Houses here are built very close to each other. The chance that our house will still collapse is still very possible.”
Dependent on others
Because she cannot return to her house and couldn’t take anything with her when she had to leave, she doesn’t know how to rebuild her life. It affects Daw deeply. “We have always been self-sufficient, and now we are dependent on help. I can’t cook for my family, and we don’t yet dare to go out on the streets.”
She continues: “Fortunately, food packages are delivered now and then. Our neighbours also received an extra package that they shared with us. I don’t eat from it myself, because I want my children to have enough to eat. We have to start rebuilding our lives from scratch.”
Uncertainty among the population
The worries Daw has are shared by thousands of her fellow citizens, says Yasmijn de Boer, who works for ZOA in Myanmar. “The need for shelter, clean drinking water, and financial support is enormous in Myanmar. The scale of the disaster is large, and the uncertainty among the population continues to grow. People don’t know if they can safely return to their homes and how they’ll survive the coming days.”
The earthquake comes on top of the suffering many people in Myanmar were already facing. A lot of violence and a major economic crisis mean that people in Myanmar have almost nothing to survive on.
ZOA helps in Myanmar
ZOA is helping in the affected area in various ways. For example, we provide financial support in the form of cash. This allows families to choose for themselves what they need most. We also distribute tents, mosquito nets, and other materials to people who do not have safe shelter. Furthermore, we try to carry out repairs on houses. We assess which houses can still be saved and provide materials and technical help. This way, we give people a new outlook on the future.
