Earth News from TerraDaily.com
Myanmar junta lets post-quake truce expire
Yangon, May 1 (AFP) May 01, 2025
Myanmar's military junta let a truce declared to spur aid efforts after last month's earthquake expire on Thursday, a ceasefire that monitors say it consistently violated with air strikes.

The March 28 magnitude-7.7 quake in Myanmar's central belt killed nearly 3,800 and has left tens of thousands homeless as the summer monsoon season approaches.

The junta -- which snatched power in a 2021 coup, sparking a many-sided civil war -- declared a ceasefire on April 2 and extended it last week as aid groups warned of a long road to recovery.

It expired at midnight on Wednesday (1730 Tuesday GMT) with the junta information team making no announcement of an extension. A junta spokesman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Monitors from the Britain-based Centre for Information Resilience logged 65 air attacks by the military during the proclaimed ceasefire period -- many clustered in regions worst-hit by the quake.

When the military pledged to pause offensives it warned the myriad of anti-coup and ethnic armed groups it is battling that it would strike back if they advance.

During the ceasefire period, opposition armed groups besieged towns on a lucrative eastern trade route to Thailand, according to locals, who said fighting had forced many civilians from their homes.

The quake was the strongest centred on Myanmar's landmass since 1912, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the ground shearing up to six metres (20 feet) in places, according to NASA analysis.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies this week predicted it would take the country two years to fully recover from the disaster.





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
ISS to change commanders before Soyuz crew leaves orbit
NASA backs WHOI effort to read organic signals from ocean worlds
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Number's up: Calculators hold out against AI
Helical Fusion and Aoki Super sign fusion power deal for supermarket operations
KATRIN experiment rules out favored light sterile neutrino region

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
India walks back mandatory government app after backlash
Colombia and paramilitary drug gang vow further peace talks in Doha
Thailand-Cambodia clashes reignite, killing soldier and civilians

24/7 News Coverage
Sea-floor animals decrease nearly 40% in deep-sea mining zone: study
New landslide warnings issued as Sri Lanka cyclone toll hits 627; Recovery plans unveiled
Sri Lanka doubles troops for flood disaster recovery


ADVERTISEMENT



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.