KUALA LUMPUR, 29 Mac- Satu gempa bumi sederhana berukuran 5.0 magnitud dilaporkan melanda Myanmar pada pukul 5.20 petang tadi.

Menurut kenyataan Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (METMalaysia), gempa dengan kedalaman 13 kilometer (km) itu berlaku kira-kira 126 km di selatan Meiktila, Myanmar. Ia berpusat di koordinat 19.8° utara dan 95.9° timur.

METMalaysia turut mengesahkan bahawa tiada ancaman tsunami kepada Malaysia susulan kejadian tersebut.

Semalam, satu gempa bumi kuat turut melanda Myanmar, menyebabkan gegaran dirasai di beberapa kawasan di Semenanjung Malaysia.

BANGKOK, March 29 — In the hours after a massive earthquake flattened buildings in Myanmar’s Mandalay yesterday, survivors scrambled through the debris using their bare hands in desperate attempts to save those still trapped.

Without heavy machinery to assist them and with authorities absent, a resident and rescue workers in the Southeast Asian country’s second-largest city told Reuters that they were struggling to pull out survivors crying out for help.

Htet Min Oo, 25, barely survived when a brick wall collapsed on him, trapping half of his body. He told Reuters his grandmother and two uncles remained under the debris of a building, which he tried in vain to clear with his hands.

“There’s too much rubble, and no rescue teams have come for us,” he said, breaking into tears.

Myanmar has been in crisis since 2021, when the military seized power from an elected government, brutally crushing protests and sparking an unprecedented armed uprising.

Humanitarian agencies say Friday’s quake, which measured 7.7 magnitude and has killed more than 1,000 people, has come at a vulnerable moment for the country, after four years of military rule and civil war that has crippled infrastructure and displaced millions.

“The powerful earthquake hit the country at the worst possible time,” Sheela Matthew, deputy country director for the World Food Program, said in a statement. “Myanmar just can’t afford another disaster.”

People across the country are affected by “widespread violence”, and the health system has “been decimated by conflict, overwhelmed by outbreaks of cholera and other diseases”, said Mohammed Riyas, Myanmar director for the International Rescue Committee.

“The added stress of meeting the needs of those who have been injured in the earthquake is going to cause unparalleled strain on already stretched resources,” Riyas added.

A spokesperson for Myanmar’s junta did not respond to requests for comment.

The foreign minister of the National Unity Government, the parallel civilian government that oversees some pro-democracy forces, told Reuters by phone it would deploy anti-junta troops to help with disaster efforts.

Polycrisis

In January, the United Nations said the country was facing a “polycrisis” marked by economic collapse, intensifying conflict, climate hazards and deepening poverty. More than half of the country lacks access to electricity, and hospitals in conflict zones are out of service.

More than 3.5 million people have been internally displaced and many more driven across the borders amid fighting between the military and a mosaic of armed groups that have seized control of vast swathes of territory.

Fighting continued on Friday, with military jets launching airstrikes and drone attacks shortly after the quake in Karen state, near the headquarters of one of the largest ethnic armed groups, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation.

Nyi Nyi Kyaw, a Myanmar academic at Bristol University, wrote in a social media post that the loss of a “significant portion of (the country’s) youth, particularly young men, due to forced conscription” into the military would hinder the disaster response.

“Cities and towns stand deserted by young men who would have once taken to the streets and mobilised for rescue and relief efforts,” he said.

There is “no properly functioning - let alone legitimate - government in the regions most severely affected by the earthquake”, he said.

A rescue worker trying to free 140 monks from the ruins of a collapsed building in Amarapura, Mandalay, told Reuters, “we cannot help because we do not have enough manpower and machines to remove the debris”.

Nonetheless, he said, “we will not stop working”.

No help

Myanmar’s junta has issued a rare appeal for international aid, and disaster response teams from Russia, China, Singapore and India flying in today.

But rights activists raised fears that aid would not reach people on the ground, as the regime has a history of blocking relief to parts of the country controlled by opposition groups.

Thomas Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said in a post on X that the military’s response to a recent cyclone and typhoon showed its “willingness to weaponize aid in the midst of natural disasters”.

Reuters reported in December that the junta intimidated aid agencies and suppressed information about a severe food crisis gripping the country by pressuring researchers not to collect data about hunger.

In Mandalay, residents interviewed by Reuters said they had not yet received any assistance from military authorities.

One rescue worker said today they had borrowed machinery from businesses to help sift through the rubble. He said they had received nothing from the military government but declined to elaborate for fear of retribution.

Some residents were appealing for machinery on Facebook.

One wrote that members of their family had been crushed under the rubble of a mosque and “we desperately want to recover their bodies”.

“We need to rent a crane to remove the heavy concrete blocks. If anyone has information on where we can rent one, please contact us,” they wrote. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Keputusan pantas Malaysia menghantar pasukan kemanusiaan ke Myanmar menegaskan tanggungjawabnya sebagai Pengerusi ASEAN 2025 dan menjadi contoh tepat terhadap komitmen blok itu dalam melindungi keselamatan insan di tengah-tengah krisis akibat gempa bumi kuat yang melanda negara itu.

Penganalisis Keselamatan dan Hubungan Antarabangsa Universiti Malaya (UM), Collins Chong Yew Keat, berkata langkah Malaysia mencerminkan kepimpinan yang diperlukan ASEAN pada saat genting yang menuntut solidariti dan tindakan segera .

"Usaha penyelarasan awal dan kepimpinan yang ditunjukkan dalam konteks ASEAN serta perpaduan dalam penyampaian bantuan kolektif dilihat sebagai langkah dan kepimpinan yang diperlukan sebagai Pengerusi ASEAN. Ini juga berfungsi sebagai mesej muhibah kepada kepimpinan junta Myanmar serta dorongan baharu untuk menunjukkan kesungguhan dan kesiapsiagaan ASEAN dalam menyokong Myanmar pada saat ini," katanya kepada Bernama.

Chong berkata penghantaran pasukan Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara (NADMA) dan strategi koordinasi kolektif ASEAN bukan sekadar bersifat taktikal, tetapi membawa kepentingan jangka panjang.

"Walaupun ASEAN secara konsisten mengambil pendirian tegas terhadap konflik di Myanmar dan mendesak junta untuk mengubah haluannya, ASEAN sentiasa bersedia membantu dan Malaysia khususnya sentiasa menyokong rakyat serta masyarakat Myanmar," katanya.

Menurut pasukan penerangan Majlis Pentadbiran Negara (SAC) Myanmar, gempa bumi itu telah meragut 1,002 nyawa, mencederakan 2,376 individu serta menyebabkan 30 orang masih hilang.

Banyak bangunan mengalami kerosakan dan operasi menyelamat sedang dijalankan, menurut laporan media antarabangsa.

Pada peringkat serantau, Chong berkata respons kemanusiaan berterusan terhadap gempa bumi Myanmar mencerminkan keseimbangan yang cuba dicapai oleh negara anggota ASEAN, apabila setiap negara menyesuaikan kepentingan dasar luar masing-masing sambil berusaha mengekalkan keamanan dan kestabilan rantau ini.

Beliau berkata ikrar bantuan kemanusiaan oleh Malaysia, Indonesia dan Singapura setakat ini menggambarkan keseimbangan dalam usaha memastikan keamanan terpelihara serta kesan bencana dapat dikawal.

"Ini menunjukkan bahawa setiap negara ASEAN mempunyai pertimbangan dan kepentingan dasar luar tersendiri dalam mencapai pulangan terbaik, bukan hanya untuk negara masing-masing tetapi juga bagi ASEAN secara keseluruhan, dengan matlamat untuk mengekalkan keamanan dan kestabilan serta mengawal sebarang kesan bencana," katanya.

Chong turut menyatakan bahawa tindakan Malaysia mengukuhkan pendirian seimbang ASEAN terhadap Kerajaan Perpaduan Nasional (NUG) Myanmar, dengan terus menegakkan komitmen blok itu terhadap hak asasi manusia dan keselamatan insan, walaupun berpegang pada prinsip tidak campur tangan.

Beliau berkata bencana ini boleh membuka peluang untuk menghidupkan semula proses damai yang tertangguh serta mewujudkan kerjasama praktikal.

"Hal ini dilakukan menerusi keseimbangan dasar yang teliti, dan meskipun Konsensus Lima Perkara tidak menunjukkan kemajuan selama bertahun-tahun, ASEAN tidak akan berputus asa dalam usaha menstabilkan situasi di Myanmar.

"Bencana ini boleh membuka ruang baharu untuk rundingan dalam suasana yang lebih membantu, dan tekanan kini terletak pada junta untuk menunjukkan keterbukaan, mengamalkan kawalan diri serta memberi tumpuan sepenuhnya kepada usaha mencari dan menyelamat," katanya.

Malaysia, Indonesia dan Singapura telah menzahirkan komitmen mereka, dengan Malaysia akan menghantar pasukan Bantuan Kemanusiaan dan Bencana (HADR) seramai 50 anggota menerusi NADMA ke Yangon pada Ahad.

Singapura bersedia menghantar Kontinjen Operasi Lionheart untuk operasi mencari dan menyelamat serta bantuan bencana, manakala Presiden Indonesia Prabowo Subianto menyampaikan ucapan takziah dan menyatakan kesediaan negaranya membantu usaha pemulihan di Myanmar dan Thailand.

Sementara itu, menteri-menteri luar ASEAN dalam kenyataan terbaharu mereka menyampaikan ucapan takziah kepada mangsa serta masyarakat yang terkesan akibat gempa bumi di Myanmar dan Thailand, serta menegaskan kesediaan blok itu untuk menggerakkan bantuan kemanusiaan, termasuk Pasukan Respons Kecemasan dan Penilaian ASEAN (ERAT), Sistem Logistik Kecemasan Bencana ASEAN (DELSA) dan pasukan Mencari dan Menyelamat Bandar (USAR).

"ASEAN menegaskan solidaritinya dan akan bekerjasama rapat dalam menyelaras bantuan kemanusiaan, menyokong serta memudahkan operasi bantuan, dan memastikan respons kemanusiaan yang tepat pada masanya dan berkesan dengan bantuan Pusat Penyelarasan Bantuan Kemanusiaan bagi Pengurusan Bencana ASEAN (AHA Centre)," menurut kenyataan itu. – BERNAMA

BANGKOK: A powerful earthquake has killed more than 1,000 people in war-torn Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand and caused widespread damage.

China sent an 82-person team of rescuers to Myanmar on Saturday, Beijing's emergency management ministry said.