A/80/490 because of the secondary impacts of the earthquake, like disease and hunger, and the junta’s cruel and self-serving response to the disaster. 34. The earthquake damaged over 157,000 buildings and left approximately 200,000 people homeless. Schools, hospitals and religious and government buildings were among the structures that were severely damaged. An estimated 17 million people were impacted. 35. Many of those whose homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by the quake ended up sheltering in streets and open spaces, with scant shelter or support. With the earthquake falling in the middle of Myanmar’s hot season, they faced soaring temperatures and, as the monsoon began, drenching rains and floods. The earthquake severely damaged water and sanitation infrastructure, and many experienced shortages of clean water for drinking and hygiene. The earthquake disrupted harvests and damaged irrigation systems, further threatening food security. The World Bank estimated that the earthquake caused nearly US$11 billion in damage to physical assets and will result in a further US$2.6 billion in lost output over the following year, driving up poverty and household vulnerability. 36. The junta turned a natural disaster into a humanitarian catastrophe by seeking to turn the earthquake to its own advantage as it obstructed the delivery of humanitarian aid. 37. Following the earthquake, the junta activated the Natural Disaster Management Law, requiring that all humanitarian relief efforts be coordinated with a junta-controlled body. It also required that all organizations involved in aiding earthquake-impacted communities comply with the onerous and intrusive registration and reporting requirements set out in the draconian Organization Registration Law. 38. Relief teams, including those from foreign countries, were forced to obtain permission from junta administrators before being allowed to deliver aid or conduct search and rescue operations. Permission was systematically denied for relief efforts in areas outside of the junta’s control. Journalists were also barred from reporting from earthquake-impacted areas. 39. These restrictions were enforced at checkpoints manned by junta soldiers and allied militias. Relief workers were often threatened, harassed, interrogated and extorted at these checkpoints. Junta security forces confiscated medical supplies destined for communities impacted by the earthquake or armed conflict. Junta soldiers reportedly looted the homes of families displaced by the earthquake. Youth involved in relief efforts were also reportedly rounded up and used for forced labor or conscripted into military service. IV. Escalating attacks on civilians 40. Soon after the earthquake, armed groups rapidly declared unilateral ceasefires to facilitate search, rescue and relief efforts. The day after the quake, the National Unity Government announced a “two-week pause in offensive military operations.” A few days later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance, a grouping of three armed groups operating in northern Shan State, announced a “one-month Unilateral Humanitarian Pause.” On 2 April, the junta followed suit, declaring a “temporary ceasefire period” running until 22 April. The Kachin Independence Army declared a similar pause in military operations. 41. Despite its ceasefire announcement, the junta increased its attacks on civilians in the weeks immediately following the earthquake. Myanmar Witness recorded 50 aerial attacks in the two weeks before the ceasefire and 67 in the two weeks following. 2 Sagaing and Mandalay Regions, the two regions most affected by the earthquake, saw the highest number of aerial attacks in the two weeks following the ceasefire. 42. According to data from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), there were more military airplane and drone strikes on civilian targets in April than in any other month in the first half of 2025.3 The second quarter of 2025 saw more airstrikes on civilian targets than any previous quarter since the coup. 2 Myanmar Witness, “Ceasefire in name only: Reported aerial attacks continue after Myanmar’s earthquake truce,” 6 August 2025, https://www.info-res.org/myanmar-witness/reports/ceasefire-inname-only-reported-aerial-attacks-continue-after-myanmars-earthquake-truce/. 3 Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, Data Export Tool (accessed 18 August 2025). 7