People ride motorcycles past a damaged building after a strong earthquake struck central Myanmar, in Mandalay, Myanmar, March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
BANGKOK, March 28 (Bernama-dpa) -- The Red Cross in Myanmar has reported devastating damage following Friday's strong earthquakes, according to the German news agency (dpa).
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has spoken to staff in the affected region, according to the IFRC programme manager on the ground, Marie Manrique.
There is great concern that dams on the Irrawaddy River may have been damaged and could break.
[bootstrap slideshow](//www.jssor.com)
According to Manrique, 18.5 million people live in the affected area near the city of Sagaing, where two quakes - of an estimated magnitude of 7.7 and 6.4 - were recorded on Friday.
Many of them are displaced due to the ongoing fighting in the country since the 2021 military coup.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 1.6 million of the 3.5 million displaced people in Myanmar live in the region hit by the earthquake.
"We are very concerned about the possible humanitarian consequences," said Manrique. "We expect a lot of people to be injured."
\-- BERNAMA-dpa
_BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies. Follow us on social media :_
_Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio_
_
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
_