The Catastrophe
Over the past several decades, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has suffered from disease outbreaks, food shortages, civil war, and mass displacement due to their volatile government and political environment. To make matters worse, on Friday, March 28, 2025, a devastating 7.7 earthquake hit the already distressed country in their second largest city, Mandalay; a crucial city to Myanmar’s culture, religion, and history.
Sadly during this natural disaster, the city airport, several main roads and large buildings were completely destroyed and left to collapse. As of now 1,700 have passed from the violence of this event, 3,400 are currently injured, and 300 people are missing. The recovery from this event must be rapid as the monsoon season is just beginning, leaving those displaced without cover to protect themselves from the elements of nature around them.
The Cleanup And Recovery
Due to Myanmar’s poor economy and constant civil war that has corrupted the country over the past several years it has been extremely difficult to organize international aid or relief efforts. To add to this difficulty, major roads and highways have been damaged causing severe challenges with transportation to and from hospitals, as well as having power outages, food and fuel shortages, and spotty communications.
The United Nations Team representing Myanmar has stated, “This latest tragedy compounds an already dire crisis and risks further eroding the resilience of communities already battered by conflict, displacement, and past disasters.” Furthermore, Marcoluigi Corso, a humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar also stated, “Even before this earthquake, nearly 20 million people in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance.”
Usually in crisis situations like this one, the United States has played a major role in helping to rebuild and provide aid, however due to President Trump’s U.S.A.I.D cuts, the response has been slow. Thankfully however, China, Russia, and several other nations have rushed their emergency response teams to help the desperate country.
The Impact of this Crisis
Although Myanmar is thousands of miles from the United States, millions of citizens are heartbroken and devastated for this country. Hingham High School sophomore, Morgan Childs, explains her disappointment, stating, “This is very upsetting and I hope everyone is okay.” To add, another tenth grader from Hingham High, Ella Norton, is distraught over this crisis and says, “This is devastating and I hope that everyone that was affected gets the help that they need.”
There is no way to prevent earthquakes or other natural disasters. The best the world can do is to support and aid the countries and people who are affected by them. Not only is the earthquake in Myanmar a devastating catastrophe that has shocked the world, but it also calls into question the state of several nations around the world and how willing they are to support one another.
