State of emergency declared in Myanmar after huge earthquake
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What triggered the state of emergency in Myanmar?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson and at 14 hours GMT on Friday the 28th of March, these are our main stories. A huge 7.7 magnitude earthquake has struck central Myanmar, causing damage over a large area. The tremors reached as far as the Thai capital Bangkok, a thousand kilometres away, where a high-rise building under construction has collapsed.
Also in this podcast, the US Vice President J.D. Vance is to visit Greenland today, leading a high-level delegation to America's most northerly military base. And refugees fleeing the war in the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo, say they don't want to move to a much larger camp in Burundi.
Diejenigen, die schon im Camp sind, sagen, sie leiden. Ich frage mich, wenn ich mich zurückbekommen verabschiede, was passiert mit den Kindern, die ich in Kongo verabschiedet habe? Sie werden mich nicht finden.
A powerful earthquake has struck parts of Southeast Asia with its epicenter close to Mandalay in Myanmar. Several buildings are reported to have collapsed and a state of emergency has been declared across large parts of the country. Strong tremors extended into Thailand and Yunnan in southwest China. The US Geological Survey said it had a magnitude of 7.7 and was just 10 kilometers deep.
How has the earthquake affected Myanmar and surrounding areas?
The military government in Myanmar has requested aid from abroad to help with the rescue operation.
We'll hear from Bangkok in a moment. But first, let's hear from a South African resident living in Yangon, the country's largest city. He described what it was like when the earthquake hit.
In Myanmar haben wir meistens eine Erkrankung, aber nichts so intensives. Und das schien für immer zu dauern. Es war mehr als eine Minute. Wir waren sogar auf der Grundfläche, konnten nicht aufstehen. Du fällst über. Also war es definitiv sehr faszinierend. In Yangon scheint es ziemlich okay zu sein. Es gibt nicht zu viel Schaden. Aber in Mandalay und der UNESCO-Weltheritagesite Bagan scheint der Schaden ziemlich intensiv zu sein. Es gibt Bilder und Videos, die online verbreitet werden, von Menschen, Hospitals that collapsed and pagodas in Bagan that collapsed. So it's all coming to light now, but it seems very grim, to be honest. We've just heard that they've announced a state of emergency and asked for humanitarian help, which is quite unique for the situation in Myanmar to do that, but they did. I think everyone's trying to just scope out what the situation is first. I know that there's no power in Mandalay or Bagan. In Yangon we had a long power cut too, just after the earthquake.
Das ist normal, aber es kommt oft zurück. Und es hat es nicht. Und ich weiß, Mandalay ist noch in der Dunkelheit. Also ich denke, alle humanitären Autoritäten versuchen nur, herauszufinden, was die Situation ist, weil es keine Kraft da ist. Also ist es schwer, eine Beobachtung zu bekommen, was die Situation wirklich ist. Mandalay ist eine sehr flotte Stadt. Es ist nicht eine Stadt, die sehr viele Hochreise hat, aber wie alle Bilder, die wir gesehen haben, sind vierstädtische Gebäude, die die Norm in Mandalay seien, die sich verletzt haben, was sehr rar ist. Es ist nicht normal. Drei Wochen ago hatten wir eine 5,2 auf der Richterskala, die sich außerhalb von Yangon befand.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What triggered the state of emergency in Myanmar?
0:58–2:46
2
How has the earthquake affected Myanmar and surrounding areas?
2:46–6:18
3
What are the immediate impacts in Bangkok due to the earthquake?
6:18–8:25
4
How does Myanmar's political situation influence its response to the disaster?
8:25–12:25
5
What are the geological reasons behind the earthquake in Southeast Asia?
12:25–16:31
6
Why is Greenland significant in US foreign policy?
16:31–33:29