Myanmar | What’s left after an earthquake
Earthquakes like the one in Myanmar can destroy so much, but faith, hope and charity must not crumble. Although “it’s tough”
Earthquakes are tremendous events. Because they come suddenly and find you unprepared. Because if they are strong and violent, they take away everything: your home, your affections, your life.
Earthquakes are the force of nature against the fragility of Man. They are proof of our smallness.
When the Earth shakes, it is because it has something to tell us.
When, on the other hand, we tremble, perhaps we no longer have anything to say.
Fear becomes stronger than anything, and we run as far away as possible, hoping for salvation.
The earthquake of March 28 in Southeast Asia showed us heart-wrenching scenes. According to an initial toll, 144 people were killed and 732 injured. The epicenter was in Myanmar, but the quake was also felt in Thailand.
The skyscraper we saw going down, in videos that have now gone viral, was in Bangkok: it was under construction, now all destroyed except for the hope of finding alive the workers trapped. Twenty children, meanwhile, are under the rubble of a monastery in Taungoo.
On the one hand, buildings and bridges and buildings collapse; on the other, solidarity is being built.
Indeed, the aid machine has already started; the Italian Red Cross has kicked off a fundraiser, Doctors Without Borders (Msf) are ready to intervene with life-saving treatment.
The Pope, through a telegram sent by Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and widespread devastation caused by the earthquake in Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar and Thailand.” He prays for the victims and is spiritually close “to all those affected by this tragedy.”
Already last September, the state of Myanmar was heavily hit by Typhoon Yagi, along with neighboring countries, and previously, in May 2023, Cyclone Mocha took care of that, causing deaths, property damage, and an increase in displaced people.
Add to this the fact that there has been an ongoing civil war since 2021, since the army overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Earthquakes are tremendous events, especially when they hit places that are already quite shaken by everything: poverty, war, other natural disasters.
Prayer and generosity then become even more necessary. Works of mercy will somehow be able to fill (with love) the chasms that have opened (or widened) in the existences of so many people.
A testimony directly from Myanmar
Father Piero Masolo, a PIME missionary in Detroit, USA, had previously been on mission in Myanmar.
At such a painful time, spazio + spadoni thanks him for also sharing with us the testimony of the person writing:
“I am sending this joint message to reach the many people who are asking for news about the earthquake that hit Myanmar. First of all, thank you for your prayer, concern, affection and closeness.
Taunggyi town, where I live, is just over 150 km from Mandalay city, the epicenter of the earthquake. The strongest tremor was 7.7 on the Richter scale, followed by another tremor of 6.4, with more aftershocks.
The hardest hit cities were Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw (the capital), where one of the largest hospitals also collapsed, limiting relief access to victims.
Here in the city of Taunggyi, the old town was the hardest hit, with damage to buildings but not involving people. The hardest hit building was actually the Cathedral, dedicated to St. Joseph.
Thank God, the earthquake did not happen during the normally well-attended Stations of the Cross celebration because it would have been a massacre. However, there is much sadness about the damage to the Cathedral, which in these war years had become a symbol of hope and a gathering place for the many displaced people who have found refuge in Taunggyi over the years. This place, too, has now been taken away from the Christian community.
Last September, Myanmar had been literally overwhelmed by a cyclone that devastated vast areas now being rebuilt. The earthquake hit areas that had also been affected by the cyclone. In the midst of all this, the civil war.
In the Center where I live, beyond the big scare, I saw sad and dismayed faces.
We did not say much to each other. The people of Myanmar are patient, very patient. They know how to welcome and cash in, but in the silence of the faces today I heard a common prayer loudly, “Until when, O Lord…?”
Thank you again for your prayer and closeness.
Happy journey to all toward the light of the Risen One”.
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- Father Piero Masolo’s Fb profile