{"id":5710,"date":"2025-04-15T01:05:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=5710"},"modified":"2025-04-15T01:05:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T18:35:16","slug":"earthquakes-continue-in-mandalay-sagaing-as-asean-plans-to-meet-min-aung-hlaing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2025\/04\/earthquakes-continue-in-mandalay-sagaing-as-asean-plans-to-meet-min-aung-hlaing\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthquakes Continue in Mandalay & Sagaing as ASEAN Plans to Meet Min Aung Hlaing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 April 13 Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

published by MoeMaKa<\/em> on April 14, 2025:<\/p>\n

Earthquakes Continue in Mandalay & Sagaing as ASEAN Plans to Meet Min Aung Hlaing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

More than two weeks after the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March 28, Myanmar continues to experience frequent aftershocks\u2014some of them moderate in intensity. A 5.5 magnitude quake struck again on April 13 near Wundwin, causing structural collapse of at least two buildings.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf2a Ongoing Earthquake Trauma<\/h4>\n

People in quake-hit areas like Mandalay and Sagaing are still sleeping outdoors\u2014on roadsides and makeshift platforms. The recent rainfall has worsened their situation, leaving many without proper shelter and vulnerable to sickness. The ongoing tremors, emotional trauma, loss of family members, and destruction of homes continue to inflict psychological and physical stress.<\/p>\n

Despite these hardships, the military junta has failed to provide adequate emergency housing. Even government staff working in Naypyitaw’s ministries\u2014under the junta\u2019s administration\u2014are reportedly affected, with thousands of staff apartments damaged or collapsed. Many civil servants are now living in temporary shelters. In contrast, the military quickly repaired the damaged walls of the Mandalay military command headquarters, raising questions about the regime\u2019s priorities\u2014protecting its own security infrastructure over the public\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udde9 Gaps in Relief & Reconstruction<\/h4>\n

Ordinary citizens are relying on humanitarian aid from international agencies, domestic volunteers, and mutual aid groups. Yet, fears of more large earthquakes persist. The repair or rebuilding of homes is complicated by financial challenges, risk of further quakes, and delays in reconstruction.<\/p>\n

While Mandalay, as a trade and business hub, may see some recovery, towns like Sagaing, Kyaukse, Pyawbwe, and Wundwin are expected to face significant reconstruction hurdles.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd04 Lessons from the Past, Challenges of the Present<\/h4>\n

After Cyclone Nargis in 2008, international governments assisted Myanmar through aid agencies. But the current 2025 global climate is very different. Today, international priorities lean toward self-interest and domestic concerns. With wars like the Russia\u2013Ukraine conflict ongoing and U.S. focus turning inward, major global powers appear less likely to provide material assistance for Myanmar’s earthquake recovery.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd1d ASEAN to Meet Junta Leader<\/h4>\n

A key development: ASEAN is set to meet junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Bangkok. Since the military coup, ASEAN had excluded Myanmar\u2019s generals from summits unless they implemented the bloc\u2019s five-point consensus. However, Malaysia\u2019s Prime Minister\u2014current ASEAN chair\u2014announced the upcoming meeting, reportedly under the pretext of discussing humanitarian aid for earthquake relief.<\/p>\n

Though the agenda may appear humanitarian, it\u2019s expected that the ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar will also be discussed. Former Thai PM Thaksin reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role in arranging recent meetings\u2014including Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok earlier this month. Reports indicate Thaksin and the Malaysian PM met shortly before this latest announcement.<\/p>\n

ASEAN\u2019s willingness to engage with Min Aung Hlaing could be seen diplomatically as a breakthrough. With elections promised for late 2025 (though widely expected to be neither free nor fair), some ASEAN members may accept the upcoming election as a way to “move forward” despite ongoing repression.<\/p>\n

\u26a0\ufe0f Junta\u2019s Strategy: Diplomatic Re-entry via Disaster<\/h4>\n

It appears the junta is using the earthquake crisis as a pretext to ease regional diplomatic isolation and sanctions. There are signs they may be seeing some limited success.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myanmar Spring Chronicle \u2013 April 13 Overview published by MoeMaKa on April 14, 2025: Earthquakes Continue in Mandalay & Sagaing as ASEAN Plans to Meet Min Aung Hlaing More than two weeks after the powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake on March…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,58],"tags":[100],"class_list":["post-5710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current","category-features","tag-myanmar-spring-revolution"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3RDLm-1u6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5712,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5710\/revisions\/5712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}