On March 28 2025, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and at least 1,700 people are confirmed dead so far reported by today(31-03-25).The Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR) promptly responded by organizing the “Myanmar Earthquake Disaster Emergency and Response Team,” comprising 22 IDMR faculty members to provide international humanitarian support. This is based on IDMR’s previous vast experience in responding and rendering support to different global disasters, for example, during the past earthquakes in Nepal and Turkey in 2015 and 2023, respectively.

Our emergency and response team has immediately organized faculties to compile a Chinese-Myanmar bilingual version of the “Earthquake Self-help and Mutual-help Handbook,” plan to to overseas Chinese and Myanmar people through embassies and international aid organizations. The handbook is intended to help people in earthquake-affected areas improve their self-help and mutual-help abilities and reduce the risk of secondary disasters. IDMR team will endavour to visit the site of earthquake area to carry out humanitarian relief and rescue services by rendering professional knowledge, experience and skills in the areas of disaster verification, temporary relocation and resettlement, risk assessment of secondary disasters, and allocation of resources for emergency response.

Seismic peak ground acceleration (left) and co-seismic landslide susceptibility (right)

Further, IDMR has collaborated with the Chengdu Granting Shou Yu Public Welfare Development Center to help Chinese social rescue teams carry out rescue activities in the earthquake-affected areas. At present, the head of the Center has arrived at the affected area in Myanmar to set up an on-site coordination center for China's social emergency and response personnel. In this case, IDMR team is using remote sensing technology and geographic information technology for search and rescue to monitor and analyze the surface deformation triggered by the earthquake, and to lock down the highly destructed areas. This will support the China's social rescue personnel in rendering professional and technical support for the timely and effective earthquake relief.