Doctors Without Borders informed that the lack of clean drinking water threatens to worsen the situation in this country.

On Tuesday, the military junta, which has held power in Myanmar since the 2021 coup, raised the death toll to 2,719 and the number of injured to 4,521 following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the north-central region of the country on Friday.

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The pro-democracy National Unity Government (NUG), which opposes the junta and controls parts of the country, stated that 8.5 million people have been “directly affected” by the earthquake.

Four days later, a 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck again on Tuesday near the city of Mandalay, one of the areas most affected by Friday’s devastating quake, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The tremor was recorded at 5:31 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers in the Sagaing region, about 15 kilometers northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, with approximately 1.5 million inhabitants.

United Nations agencies and the organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that the lack of clean drinking water threatens to worsen the situation in Myanmar, as thousands of people are sleeping outdoors near bodies that remain in the streets, posing serious risks of infection and disease outbreaks.

Rescue teams are racing against time to deliver aid and save victims from the rubble, facing severe logistical limitations and the added danger of ongoing conflict between the military and ethnic guerrillas, as well as pro-democracy groups in some affected areas.

Friday’s earthquake, one of the most severe in Myanmar in recent decades, also impacted Thailand, where it caused at least 20 deaths—most of them in a high-rise under construction that collapsed—while around 70 people remain missing.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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