How will Myanmar’s earthquake impact the civil war?

缅甸地震将如何影响内战?

Today in Focus

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2025-04-03

28 分钟
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Myanmar’s military junta has been losing territory for months. Will the earthquake and a new ceasefire help it turn the tide? Rebecca Ratcliffe reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
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  • This is The Guardian.

  • Today, how will Myanmar's earthquake change the course of the civil war?

  • On Friday afternoon, Esther Jay was in her apartment in Bangkok in Thailand when the tremors started.

  • It is the most severe earthquake I have experienced in my life.

  • Esther was more than 600 miles away from where the earthquake had struck in Central Myanmar.

  • According to the Red Cross, this is the most devastating earthquake to hit Asia in more than a century.

  • Esther's from Myanmar and she worked there as a journalist until the military regime forced her and most other reporters out.

  • The apartment I used to live before the coup was already right by the military and also my bank account was free and it's not safe for me to go inside Myanmar.

  • The place where I live is very far from the epicenter and so you can imagine how it will be devastating for those who live near the epicenter.

  • At the moment, we know that more than 3,000 people have died and almost 5,000 have been injured.

  • Meanwhile, the military has continued its airstrikes and has been blocking international aid but things are changing.

  • Yesterday,

  • it finally agreed to a ceasefire and Esther's found

  • that for the first time in years people are willing to break their silence and speak out about what's going on in the country.

  • From The Guardian, I'm Hannah Moore.

  • Today in focus, the political aftershocks of Myanmar's earthquake.

  • Rebecca Ratcliffe,

  • you're the Southeast Asia correspondent for The Guardian and you've been reporting on the earthquake from Bangkok in Thailand.

  • Tell me about when it struck on Friday afternoon.

  • Where was the epicenter?