“We Thought It Was a Bomb”: A Myanmar mother’s loss between an earthquake and war

Ei Ei Khine Zar Maung was resting in a makeshift brick shelter when a sudden roar split the night. Her nine-year-old son, Kaung Kin Ko Ko, sat beside her, quietly scrolling on her phone. They had been staying in a hastily constructed brick annex beside a bamboo house in East Myinsaing Village, Kyaukse District, Mandalay Region—one of countless temporary shelters cobbled together as war edges closer to civilian homes. Then came the sound—deep, growing louder, unmistakably menacing. Ei Ei instinctively grabbed her son’s hand. She immediately thought it was a junta warplane. They scrambled off the bed, searching for cover. But before they could move, the ground convulsed beneath them. Within seconds, they were on all fours, pinned under the shattered concrete slabs of the very walls meant to shield them. "The roof and walls on both sides collapsed and trapped us,” Ei Ei told Myanmar Now. “They were very thick and crushed us.” Chaos engulfed the area. Neighbors rushed in, digging through the rubble to pull Ei Ei from beneath the collapsed bricks. She only came to when she saw her son—bloodied, motionless—lying beside her. "Those stone slabs were extremely heavy. I don't even know how I got outside. When they placed my child next to me, blood was pouring from his mouth,” she said. “His forehead was also badly injured from the impact.” Then the reality started to become clear: Instead of a military fighter jet bombing their home, it dawned on her that the chaos stemmed from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that had just finished devastating central Myanmar. This was just the beginning of a disaster that would change the landscape of the country for months. Nine-year-old Kaung Kin Ko Ko died trapped under the collapsed annexe shelter alongside his mother, Ei Ei. He passed away shortly after being pulled from the rubble. (Photo: Supplied) ‘Our lives here are ruined again’ About three months ago, Ei Ei left her home of Bhamo, Kachin State, to East Myinsaing, Kyaukse Township. She relocated with Kaung Kin Ko Ko and two other sons who are in their 20s. The family fled Bhamo in early December last year, leaving behind the fighting that erupted between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the military junta. Living in Bhamo became unbearable after the junta unleashed a ruthless campaign of airstrikes on the town. Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar has been plunged into civil war, with resistance movements gaining ground in central regions like Sagaing, Magway, and parts of Mandalay Region. In townships near Mandalay city—Maddaya, Singu, and Thabeikkyin—anti-junta forces have seized territory, triggering a wave of military airstrikes in response. Earth movement record of the Sagaing earthquake released by NASA Earth. It has been less than a month since the March 28 earthquake struck. The epicentre of the powerful 7.7 magnitude disaster hit between Sagaing and Mandalay. The event was then followed by repeated aftershocks, some reaching 6.7 magnitudes. The quake was felt nationwide, including in Naypyitaw, and caused widespread devastation. The junta has since reported 3,725 dead, over 5,100 injured, and 129 missing—mostly in Mandalay, Sagaing, Inwa, Kyaukse, and parts of southern Shan State. To add insult to injury, the military has since launched dozens of airstrikes across the country. Although the junta declared a ceasefire following the earthquake, its airstrikes have only intensified—driving up the death toll nationwide. Map of townships with active fighting across Mandalay Region. In Sagaing Region alone, local activists and People’s Defense Forces (PDF) who spoke to Myanmar Now said at least 13 have died in airstrikes in the last two days. In Mandalay, another 24 were killed in various villages across the region. In Thanintharyi Region, two were killed, while another three civilians died in bombings in Mon State.As conflict escalates, civilians from war-torn areas in Sagaing, northern Shan, and Kachin have fled to relatively safer regions like Yangon and Mandalay. Already struggling in makeshift shelters, many of these internally displaced people (IDPs) were hit again—this time by the powerful earthquake."We only left Bhamo when we couldn't stay there anymore,” Ei Ei said. “We couldn't bring anything with us. When disaster strikes, our lives here are ruined again.” The Inwa area, which sits on the Sagaing earthquake fault line, also suffered extensive damage to homes and ancient buildings. (Photo: Moe Oo / Myanmar Now) ‘I think little brother is gone’ Ei Ei’s story mirrors countless others who are feeling immense desperation, uncertainty, and suffering. And like Ei Ei, too many across Myanmar have now felt the profound pain of having to bury their own children. The war was already an overwhelming obstacle to navigate, but now the quake has created an unbearably desperate situation.“Even those who had bought homes lost everything,” an aid worker told Myanmar Now in Mandalay. “The injured are in urgent need of hospital care.” He added that IDPs from Bhamo, Mogok, Sagaing, Magway, and northern Shan—already struggling to find places to live—were forced to flee again after the quake destroyed their shelters.When the earthquake struck, Ei Ei’s two other sons were busy at work. But when they heard what happened to their mother and young brother, they raced to the hospital to meet them.At the hospital, the full extent of the devastation became clear. Ei Ei had suffered serious injuries—her hands, legs, and ribs were crushed by the falling bricks. Her son, pulled from the rubble moments later, was barely alive, bleeding heavily from his head and mouth.Within moments, he wasn’t making any sound. And his breathing started to become shallow. Unable to carry him due to her injuries, Ei Ei asked passersby for help to take him to the hospital. Once they arrived at the closest hospital, doctors examined the child."His brothers tried blowing air into his mouth,” Ei Ei said. Failing to resuscitate the boy, they looked at Ei Ei—anguish clear on their faces.“Mom, I think little brother is gone,” one of the brothers said. “Air is coming out from his forehead.”A doctor approached apprehensively—then broke the news that would shatter her completely. “He has passed away,” Ei Ei recalled the doctor saying. "He never regained consciousness after being pulled out. He couldn't even call me mother one last time.” The historic Hsinbyume Pagoda (Myatheindan Pagoda) in Min Kun area was also damaged by the earthquake on March 28. (Photo: Moe Oo / Myanmar Now) ‘I thought they were dropping bombs’ Like Ei Ei, more than 1,200 families fled fighting in Bhamo last December and sought refuge in Mandalay, according to the Thonenya Thukha Humanitarian Group, an organisation responding to the disaster. Some found space in local monasteries, others rented homes or relocated to nearby towns. Many had just begun rebuilding their lives when the earthquake struck, compounding their trauma. Among the hardest hit was *Aye Myint Win. Originally from Padu Village near Sagaing, the quake destroyed the 57-year-old’s home where she had lived for two years. But the real pain came from the loss of six of her family members—including her husband and grandchildren. Since May 2023, they had been sheltering in the village of Aintdaing, approximately 10 miles west of Madaya town in Mandalay Region. On May 19, 2023, resistance forces overran the police station in her home village of Padu after police fled during a large-scale assault.In response, the junta launched three airstrikes and later deployed troops to retake control. Since then, the village—home to over 2,000 households—has faced repeated raids and burnings by junta forces. Needing to escape the violence, Aye Myint Win and her family took shelter at a monastery where a relative had become a monk. While sheltering at the monastery, they would earn income by working as day laborers in farms. Aye Myint Win and others relied on food from monasteries and occasional donations.When the planting season brings day labor opportunities in nearby villages, they work. But during off-seasons, survival becomes especially difficult. Many in the area face the same struggle after fleeing their homes. Just as Aye Myint Win’s family was settling into their new situation, they were impacted by the March 28 earthquake. The Min Kun area, with its many ancient pagodas and stupas, was severely affected by the earthquake, and villages on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River north of the Min Kun area suffered damage to ancient structures. Among the dead in Aintdaing were nine people, including 63-year-old monk U Agga, 50-year-old Nyunt Naing and his two-year-old nephew Min Htet Naing. Six others were from Aye Myint Win’s family—her husband, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren, aged one to 12. On the day of the earthquake, all nine of them, including Aye Myin Win, were preparing food offerings for the upcoming Uposatha, a day of special practice and reflection for monks and Buddhist practitioners. But then the monastery walls collapsed, trapping all nine under the rubble. "When I heard the sudden loud noise, I thought they were dropping bombs,” Aye Myint Win said. “When we heard the sound, we shouted: ‘Lay down, lay on the ground!' And then we huddled against the wall. When the wall collapsed, we were trapped underneath.” Her 40-year-old daughter, Mon Mon Kyi, told Myanmar Now that the moment was pure chaos. "Everyone was completely crushed,” she said. “Some people had their intestines exposed.”The violent event took Mon Mon Kyi's daughter’s life. "When the stones fell, people came to dig us out after hearing our screams,” Mon Mon Kyi said. “It just happened to our family in this area. If the monks hadn't come to get us, I would have died too. Rubble was covering my entire body." Mandalay residents continue to seek shelter in open spaces away from buildings due to concerns about aftershocks. (Photo: Myanmar Now) The earthquake caused buildings in Mandalay to sink into the ground, others to lean, and countless homes to collapse entirely."It's like a destroyed city," said *Mai Mai, a 26-year-old Lashio who originally comes from Lashio, northern Shan State, but relocated to Mandalay. "It's just like a city destroyed by war. The only difference is there are no bullet holes. Here, people died trapped under buildings during the earthquake. During the war, we saw people dying on the streets.”According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) April 18 report, more than 40,000 homes were destroyed by the major earthquake, and aftershocks are hampering reconstruction and recovery efforts. Nearly 2 million earthquake-affected people still need shelter and basic household items, according to the UN agency. Mai Mai fled to Mandalay during the intense fighting when the Kokang Army, also known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) attacked Lashio.Transportation costs have soared to over 600,000 kyat (US $285), forcing her to remain in Mandalay. She had been renting a house in Chanmyathazi Township with other displaced people and working in sales to make ends meet. But when the earthquake left deep cracks in the walls of their home, they had no choice but to leave. Now, like many others in the city, she’s found temporary refuge in a monastery."We lay mats in the monastery compound and sleep there,” Mai Mai said. “When it rains, we move to another location. We set up mats in an open field, hang mosquito nets, and sleep in rows.” Due to continued aftershocks, Mandalay residents are still sleeping in streets and open fields. Even high-rise buildings that didn't collapse, but were damaged are unsafe, causing people living near them to seek shelter in monasteries with open grounds, according. *Phyo Phyo, 28, is also from Bhamo. She too fled to Mandalay city at the end of December last year due to an increase in fighting. Quake victims line up for food aid being distributed in Sagaing on April 3 (Photo: Sai Aung Main / AFP) After about a month of fighting, although soldiers were no longer visible in the city, daily airstrikes continued. Fearing the worst, Phyo Phyo decided to leave the city with her brothers and sisters in search of peace. She sought refuge at a monastery in Maha Aungmyay, Mandalay city, and began looking for work. She interviewed for a sales position at a furniture store on March 26 and got the job. She was supposed to start work in early April. "I had just been hired for the new job when the earthquake hit,” Phyo Phyo said. “The main building of my new workplace didn't collapse completely, but the annexes did.”“They said it needed repairs first, so we kept waiting for the job,” she recalled. But after nearly three weeks of sheltering in Mandalay, Phyo Phyo made the difficult decision to leave. Two weeks after the earthquake struck Sagaing, she moved to Sintgaing Township—about 20 miles south—in search of work. She had heard that factories there were hiring, and with little else to rely on, she followed that thread of hope. "I was searching for work with the little money I had brought when I fled. When the earthquake happened, more people came to the monastery. After staying for so long, I felt uncomfortable and decided to move again," she said.Back in Mandalay, peace remains out of reach for Ei Ei. The weight of her son’s death and the uncertainty ahead press down on her daily. She still has nowhere permanent to stay—and even walking is a struggle. Her sons often have to carry her. After their brief stay ended, they moved her closer to their factory. Though she can now sit and stand, the pain lingers: her ribs remain swollen, and she still can’t bend or straighten her arm. "I can't afford medical treatment. I'm just using traditional herbal cream for my injuries,” Ei Ei said. “I take [osteoporosis] medicine. Then I boil water and apply a hot compress.” Her family has since relocated to Sintgaing Township, where her two sons found work at a plywood factory. Before they left, Ei Ei saw that the house she once shared with her youngest son still stood—damaged, on the verge of collapse. But to her, it was already lost. She couldn’t bear to stay another moment near the place where her child died. "The landlord asked if I wanted to continue staying there,” Ei Ei said. “How could I stay in a house where I lost my own son?" *Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed

“We Thought It Was a Bomb”: A Myanmar mother’s loss between an earthquake and war

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