As the death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28 surpassed 3,000, under the condition of anonymity, a foreign expert from a major international agency who visited Mandalay on Sunday and Monday described to Le Monde a very contrasting situation. While the eastern part of the city of 1.6 million residents was barely affected, in the Northwest of Mandalay, between the royal palace and the Irrawaddy River, the damage was much more significant – eight-story buildings had been reduced to piles of rubble.
The city has not been paralyzed: “In the entire eastern part of the city, restaurants, shops, even beauty salons are reopening. People have to work. The large covered markets are closed for inspection, but you can see food, clothing and flower stalls on the streets. It is not a city on its knees,” he said.
Thousands of displaced people have settled along the moats of the royal palace, where volunteer teams continuously distributed water and meals in containers. The citizen response to the earthquake was significant. “You come across dozens of convoys coming from Yangon with banners indicating donations – from banks, companies, monasteries,” the foreign expert said. “In front of the hospital are dozens of different ambulances because they belong to various NGOs.”