Friday 28th March, 2025 is a day that changed people’s lives in Myanmar forever. For many, it was the first earthquake they had ever experienced. In a matter of seconds, homes turned to rubble, families were separated, and fear gripped entire communities.
Over 6 million people across Myanmar have been affected by the catastrophe. The death toll is now over 2,000 and is climbing. Rescue teams are still working to find people trapped under the rubble, desperately searching for survivors.
Millions of people are in urgent need of shelter, clean water, food and medical care. Please donate to our emergency appeal to help provide life-saving supplies for survivors.
Our staff in Myanmar – many of whom have been personally affected – are working around the clock to support their communities. Here are their recollections of the moment the earthquake struck, in their own words.
“It was traumatising”
The moment the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Mandalay, a member of staff from CARE Myanmar had just sat down to work from the sixth floor of a hotel. Suddenly, everything started shaking.
“I waited to see if it would stop, but it just kept getting worse. It was so terrible,” they recall. “I couldn't even stand up. I was rolling around on the floor, being tossed from one side to the other. I thought I was going to die.”
When the trembling stopped, they ran down all six floors via the emergency exit and found the terrified hotel staff at the bottom. Three minutes later, there was a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.
“Right before our eyes, a two-story building completely collapsed. People were helpless. People were falling off their motorbikes,” the CARE staff member says. “Seeing that building collapsed right in front of me, I thought, ‘if this hotel collapses too, I'm dead’.”
They ran out of the hotel and into the street where they found utter destruction. Motorbikes were thrown up in the air, and cars were scattered across the road.
Even now, when I think about it, I’m so scared. I really thought I was going to die on that day. It was so awful and traumatising.”
The desperate search for survivors
Since the earthquake struck, rescue volunteers and aid workers have raced to the worst impacted areas, desperately trying to find survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings.
On Sunday morning, a small aftershock struck. Feeling unsafe in Mandalay, another member of staff from CARE Myanmar relocated an hour-and-a-half drive away, to an area which was less impacted by the earthquake.
Still, the overwhelming sense of unease remained.
“I've been trying to heal my mental and physical shocks until now,” they say. “This was the worst ever earthquake experience for people, people were not prepared at all.”
As the disaster struck on a Friday afternoon, many people were inside their homes, adding to the toll of those missing, hurt or killed under collapsed buildings. The health system is overwhelmed with the sheer number of those needing urgent medical assistance.
Myanmar Earthquake Emergency Appeal: How you can help
Myanmar was already in crisis before the earthquake struck, with 19.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. This disaster has only worsened an already fragile situation.
CARE is in Myanmar right now, working directly in affected areas to provide life-saving support to survivors. Your donation will help provide shelter, clean water, food and medical care to those who urgently need it. Please donate if you can.