The massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck near Mandalay last Friday has not only laid waste to large parts of Myanmar’s last royal capital, but has also devastated the seat of its current military rulers, leaving many in Naypyitaw, the junta’s “abode of kings,” scrambling for a place to live.
Since the sprawling city, carved out of the jungles of central Myanmar, became the country’s administrative centre two decades ago, it has been largely spared the worst of what nature could throw at it. While Yangon, the erstwhile capital, suffered substantial damage when Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady delta in 2008, Naypyitaw, some 230 miles to the north, went unscathed.
This time, however, the city that houses all of the country’s top generals was not so lucky. While little is known of how the junta leaders’ palatial mansions fared in the quake, it is clear that the legions of petty officials and other public employees serving under them have taken a major hit.
According to residents, a number of large housing estates for civil servants have been flattened outright, or are too structurally unsound for safe habitation. At least 20 buildings are no longer standing at all, while some four-storey buildings have been reduced to two or three storeys—or just one.
Under many of these devastated buildings are the bodies of those who were unable to escape. “My wife and mother died trapped under a building. One hand is visible… We can’t get them out yet,” said one man in his 40s.
Even the buildings that are fairly intact are so riddled with fallen masonry and visible cracks that no one dares to enter them, much less stay in them overnight. This has left many living on the streets or other open spaces such as football fields.
Unable to house its staff, the regime has begun allowing those without shelter to leave Naypyitaw so they can return to their hometowns. But this is not an option for those who come from conflict zones, where many civilians have been displaced for years.
“We can’t go back home, and here we’re reduced to living on the streets. But at least here, people come to donate food packages,” said a woman in her 50s.
According to state media, the regime is also providing water, temporary toilets, and phone-charging stations for Naypyitaw residents stranded in the city without accommodation. Meanwhile, it added, Thai rescue teams are assisting with efforts to find survivors among the ruins of a large staff housing complex.
But as public employees struggle just to meet their own needs, the regime’s administrative capacity has been brought to a standstill. With most public facilities, including its airport and largest hospital, closed due to extensive damage from the quake, Naypyitaw is barely functioning, according to residents.
