Earthquake
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On Thursday, 24th March at 8:25pm a large earthquake hit Mung Len village in Tarlay township, Eastern Shan State, about 65km from the Northern Thai border. The quake measured a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as Bangkok. (c.f. NZ quake - 6.4).
The earthquake destroyed hundreds of homes and several hundreds of people are thought to have died. Soldiers have been stopping villagers from trying to rescue family and friends from collapsed houses. It is unclear why they are doing this. A lot of people are scared that the soldiers will go in and steal their belongings. There have been reports of hundreds of soldiers in Tarlay town simply standing by and watching, taking photos or protecting the high ranking officers. In rural areas there have been no soldiers and villagers have been left to help themselves. |
| Their most urgent need at the moment is water and food. The water in the area has a strong smell and is not usable in particular the water from the wells. They cannot use this for cooking, washing or anything. There is very little drinking water in the area. There is also very little food as it had been destroyed along with the rest of people's belongings. Many people only have enough food to last them a few days so will have to borrow from other people or try to buy it from outside the area.
Many are without shelter, some are staying at the monastery, others with friends and family but still many have nowhere to go. They need tarpaulins and other building supplies to be able to have somewhere to sleep. They also need blankets to keep warm as the weather is unusually cold at the moment. |
 Flattened houses |
 Road to Tarlay |
The Tarlay hospital is full and so some people were forced to drive about 1 ½ hours to the next closest hospital in Tachilek which is now also full. We have heard that the Burma Army have closed off access to the hospital in Tarlay and Tachileik in an attempt restrict information getting out.
Although the situation in Burma is on a much smaller scale than in Japan, one major difference is that the Japanese government is doing all it can to help the Japanese people including welcoming aid and expertise from overseas. In Burma, the regime will restrict information and will not allow aid or workers to come in. They will try and confiscate money and aid for themselves |
We have trustworthy contacts in the area who are directly involved in the relief effort.
Ways to Help...
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 Coffins laid out |
The Haven Project is the benevolent arm of Christian Outreach Centre, Thailand
We are associates of Christian Outreach Centre, Thailand who provide oversight and partnership with respect to our work here in Thailand.
The following is a video from Haven Foundation showing their involvement in Burma and the help that was given following the cyclone Nargis (May 2008):
