MYANMAR: More than 40,000 people, including children, living in shelters one month after earthquake – Save the Children

YANGON, 24 April 2025 - More than 40,000^[1] people are living in tents and other makeshift shelters one month after Myanmar's devastating earthquake with ongoing seismic activity making it impossible for them to return to their homes or start repairs, Save the Children said.

About 200,000 people, including many women and children, are displaced due to the earthquake of which about 42,000 people are living in 145 temporary shelters^[2] constructed from materials that cannot withstand severe weather, such as heavy rain and extreme heat.

Many of the displaced also lack access to reliable sources of clean water for drinking and washing which are crucial to limiting the spread of water and mosquito borne disease such as cholera and dengue and skin infections.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake – the strongest in a century - hit central Myanmar on 28 March, reducing many buildings to rubble. At least 3,700 people are reported to have died and further 4,800 people left injured, although the real figures are likely much higher, with challenges in data collection and underreporting making it difficult to grasp the full scale of the disaster.^[3]

Almost daily seismic activity^[4] has raised concerns about being able repair or rebuild structures ahead of Myanmar's rainy season which typically begins in May. Early heavy rain earlier this month flooded a camp for displaced families near Myanmar's second-largest city of Mandalay.

Tin Tin*, 32, a mother of a 4-year-old, said her family home, which was made of timber, was damaged in the earthquake and so she slept with her family on a football field exposed to the elements. Since early April they have lived in a temporary shelter made of green tarpaulin sheets and bamboo which is adequate for now, but not when extreme heat or heavy rain hit.

Tin Tin said:

"We will have to stay here until our house is repaired and is safe to return to. But I don’t know when that will happen, because aftershocks are still occurring, and we don’t have a source of income for now. Until then, this shelter is a place to call home for us for now."

Jeremy Stoner, interim Asia Regional Director at Save the Children, said:

"The nightmare is far from over for children in Myanmar. Many are living in temporary shelters that are inadequate in the long term. Communities are also concerned about how they will repair important buildings including schools ahead of the annual monsoon, or rainy season, which will bring with it more challenges for families who are already struggling.

"Donors must urgently respond with fast, flexible, and multi-year funding that enables both immediate relief and early recovery. Crucially, this must not come at the expense of existing, chronically underfunded humanitarian needs. The time to act is now—lives depend on it."

Save the Children and its partners have a presence in most of the earthquake-affected areas in Myanmar. We are working around the clock to provide urgent support to children and families with essential lifesaving emergency relief items to those who have lost their homes and their belongings.

To date, Save the Children has distributed food, including rice, pulses, salt and canned fish as well as ready-to-eat food, to more than 22,000 people. We've also distributed nearly 10,000 emergency household kits, including sleeping mats, mosquito nets, tarpaulin, nylon ropes and bamboo and have installed more than 600 shelters for earthquake-affected people. We've also provided safe spaces for children to play and receive emotional support.

Save the Children has been working in Myanmar since 1995, providing life-saving healthcare, food and nutrition, education and child protection programs.

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*name changed

References:

[1 & 2 ] https://ahacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AHA-Situation_Update-no9-M7.7-Mandalay-EQ-14-AprilF.pdf

[3 & 4] https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-earthquake-response-situation-report-no-3-18-april-2025