A powerful earthquake killed more than 140 people in Myanmar on Friday, authorities said, toppling buildings and wrecking infrastructure across a wide area.
Much of the devastation occurred in Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay, which lies near the epicenter of the magnitude-7.7 quake that struck at lunchtime, followed by a powerful aftershock and several more moderate ones.
The quake was also felt in Thailand, China and Laos.
Myanmar's State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said there would be more deaths and casualties and invited "any country" to provide help and donations.
China has announced its readiness to deliver emergency humanitarian aid to the affected region. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated on Friday that, as a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, China is closely monitoring the situation and extends sincere sympathies to Myanmar.
On Saturday morning, China dispatched a 37-member medical rescue team via a chartered flight from Kunming, Yunnan Province, to assist in earthquake-stricken Myanmar.
Later on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at the White House, stating that he had communicated with officials in Myanmar and that his administration would provide assistance. "We're going to be helping," he told reporters.
Despite the administration's push to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and cut nearly all remaining jobs, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said USAID disaster experts were ready to assist with items such as food and potable water.
"USAID has maintained a team of disaster experts with the capacity to respond if disaster strikes," she said in a press briefing. "We are ready to move now. There has been no impact on our ability to perform those duties, those requests for aid, if and when they come in."
(With input from Reuters)
(Cover: Volunteers carry out rescue efforts near damaged buildings after the earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 28, 2025. /CFP)