When the earthquake that shook central Myanmar last Friday hit Karenni State, some civilians initially thought it was just another bombing raid.
A woman who was staying in Bawlakhe Township in the affected area said she ran to a nearby bomb shelter with other civilians before she realised what she had felt was not an airstrike.
The mistake was potentially deadly. The same homebuilt, underground shelters where people of Karenni State routinely take cover during air raids could have collapsed and crushed the occupants during a quake.
Karenni State, located on the border with Thailand, is Myanmar’s least populous subdivision. Parts of the state host camps for large numbers of internally displaced people and a significant portion of territory in the state is under resistance control.
The displaced woman, originally from the state capital of Loikaw, said she had experienced numerous airstrikes in the four years and nearly two months since Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, during which time she had been displaced four times.
“We no longer have to fear losing our property because it’s already been destroyed by war,” she said. “We hear that a time of calm comes after a storm. But in reality, after this storm there have just been more airstrikes.”
While Karenni State escaped the worst impact of Friday’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake, parts of the state suffered from landslides and damage to buildings.
At 4pm on Sunday, two days after the quake, the junta launched airstrikes in Karenni State’s Hpruso Township using 500-pound and 300-pound bombs, according to the local outlet Karenni People’s Voice.
The junta has also launched airstrikes in other regions since the earthquake.
Another displaced person staying in a remote area near Loikaw said airstrikes were currently her greatest fear.
“There are preparations we can make to reduce the impact of natural disasters but there is nowhere to hide when airstrikes hit,” she told Myanmar Now.
Because of continued displacement and economic hardship, her family was unable to build an adequate underground shelter, she said.
According to the political group Progressive Karenni People Force, there were more than 1,700 airstrikes in Karenni State between February 2021 and November 2024.
Water crisis
Several villages in Karenni State’s Demoso Township have struggled with access to clean, potable water after a landslide caused by the earthquake contaminated and temporarily stopped the flow of the Nan San Hpoo Creek.
The creek flows through western Demoso Township and is a key source of drinking water for adjacent villages as well as communities of people displaced by conflict since the 2021 coup.
A villager in the area told Myanmar Now that the creek had begun flowing again a few days after the earthquake but that the water was now too dirty to drink.
“Villagers and internally displaced people can’t afford to buy water,” the villager said. “They depend on that creek and now they’re in trouble. Now I’m afraid that diseases could spread if there’s no help.”
Another resident of the township told the local outlet Kantarawaddy Times that the water was not even suitable for bathing or washing clothes because it was so muddy.
The Karenni State Interim Executive Council, formed by groups resisting the military junta in and near the state, issued a statement on March 29 pledging to provide refuge and aid to earthquake survivors in need.
