Sunday, March 30

At least 1,600 people have been confirmed dead after the deadly Myanmar earthquake on Friday, but search-and-rescue efforts are still going in full force.

In case you missed it, a deadly 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit southeast Asia on Friday afternoon local time, with an epicenter near the town of Sagaing, located in the Sagaing Province. Unfortunately, the epicenter also happened to be quite close to a highly populated area-- the city of Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city with a population of 1.7 million people, is located just across the Irrawaddy River from Sagaing.

Due to the quake's magnitude, its effects were spread far and wide. While the epicenter was located near Sagaing, a large stretch of central Myanmar around the Sagaing Fault experienced severe shaking of similar intensity to the epicenter, including the capital city of Naypyidaw. Strong shaking also stretched into northern and southern Myanmar, the latter of which contains the country's largest city, Yangon, and the shaking also extended into neighboring countries like India, Bangladesh, China, and Thailand. Read more about the initial effects of the quake here.

Now, after over a day of search-and-rescue efforts, the death toll has risen to at least 1,640 people, with thousands of others injured. Unfortunately, because of Myanmar's situation in a civil war, emergency services are extremely disorganized and ill-prepared for a disaster of this size. Due to this, many people across the affected area have been forced to attempt to rescue people with just household tools or their bare hands. Also, authorities have reported that they are critically low on medical supplies, preventing them from treating the wounded.

However, there is hope. After the collapse of an apartment building in Mandalay, a woman was rescued alive from the rubble after over 30 hours of being trapped. At least 90 people are thought to be still trapped inside, but rescuers are trying their best to get to the people buried under the rubble. Additionally, after the collapse of an under-construction apartment building in Bangkok, dozens of workers are missing. Despite the tough task, officials have brought in heavy machinery to move the rubble, and drones and sniffer dogs are searching the area for survivors.

Also, after Myanmar's government sent out a call for aid, countries have already begun to send help. Rescuers have already arrived from Russia, China, Malaysia, and India to assist with the searches, and Russia and China have also sent supplies for the people affected by the quake. The United Nations has promised to give $5 million for aid, the United Kingdom has sent almost $13 million in supplies, and the European Union has pledged $2.7 million for Myanmar. President Donald Trump of the United States confirmed that they would also help, but they have not sent any aid yet.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Australia’s tectonic plate is moving so quickly that it requires updates to maps and GPS systems fairly regularly-- it moved almost 5 feet between 1994 and 2016. Some experts believe that in about 50 million years, Australia will collide with southeast Asia.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Sometimes the questions are complicated, and the answers are simple. (Dr. Seuss)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Elucidate (verb, ih-LOO-suh-dayt) - To elucidate something is to make it clear or easy to understand.

In a Sentence: The writer elucidates complex medical findings for a general audience.