A month after Myanmar’s most powerful earthquake in a century, thousands are still grappling with the aftermath as recovery efforts drag on and communities struggle to rebuild their lives.

The March 28 earthquake, measured at magnitude 7.7, and struck along the Sagaing Fault, a major north-south fault line where the India and Eurasia tectonic plates grind against each other.

The earthquake resulted from a geological process called strike-slip faulting, where land masses move past each other horizontally. Because its focus was so close to the surface, only 6.2 miles deep, the resulting destruction was amplified. 

According to figures released by the State Administration Council of Myanmar, 3,769 people have been confirmed dead, 5,106 injured, and 107 remain missing. Nevertheless, those living in the region fear the actual count is likely much higher than reported.  “Those numbers couldn’t be accurate because it’s not easy and not comfortable to go door to door to every house and ask if someone died in the earthquake. Nobody wanted to do that. That’s why,” a local resident told bno. 

Cleanup operations are still underway, with many collapsed buildings yet to be fully cleared. While authorities have restored electricity and internet connections to much of the affected areas, many neighbourhoods remain without consistent services. 

Day Soe Jr, a local resident from Mandalay city, says to bno about 70% of the affected city areas have returned to normal, with people back at work and most shops and clinics reopened. However, several schools and businesses remain closed due to ongoing structural repairs. 

Street scenes have also changed. Residents who had taken shelter in open areas, such as the Old Mingalar Market, have recently disappeared from public view. “I don’t know where they moved. In the past, they lived in Old Mingalar’s Market, but for the past one or two days, they vanished,” he said. 

Inequality has also deepened in the wake of the disaster, said Day Soe Jr. “For rich people who had extra money, it’s okay for them to resettle back after the earthquake, but for manual labourers, they lost all their property, and it’s really a big struggle for them to survive. And families of people who passed away are still mourning after losing their loved ones during the earthquake,” he said. 

It’s already been a month, and some families still haven’t been able to recover the bodies of their loved ones. They don’t even know if their relatives are buried under the rubble, dead, or still missing and alive, just like what happened with the Sky Villa condo collapse," he said. 

The disaster has also caused problems across the border. In Thailand, the collapse of the newly built State Audit Office building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district on the same day has triggered a separate crisis. According to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), 63 people have been confirmed dead, and 31 others remain missing following the collapse, which authorities said was linked to tremors from the Myanmar quake.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt arrived at the collapsed building site early on April 28, where officials said the debris had been cleared to around 1.5 metres, allowing rescue teams better access to search for any remaining victims. At the same time, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is preparing to open several cargo containers found at the scene. The containers are believed to hold documents belonging to Italian-Thai Development (ITD) and China Railway No. 10 (Thailand). 

Authorities said the questioning of 40 engineers involved in the construction project would begin today, with about 10 engineers expected to be interviewed each day. Separately, Bang Sue district police are preparing to question representatives of all companies linked to the project as investigations widen.