By Hu Wo (Cuckoo’s Song)

Human beings and nature can never be separated from each other so they always go together all through human history. Humans must have relied on the natural environment for their chances of survival — food, clothing, and shelter — since the turn of human existence. Thus, we humans have to encounter natural phenomena, whether they have good or bad consequences, often occurring in the world. Among these phenomena, natural disasters are the worst that can threaten human life and property at the very least as well as mostly cause death. The most common natural disasters happening around the earth include storms, tornadoes, landslides, mudslides, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Out of those disasters, an earthquake is a totally unexpected catastrophe which can lead to mass death and destruction even within a split second.

So, what in the world creates earthquakes? As we all know, our earth is formed of layers and the earth’s surface, about 100 kilometres thick, is made of large pieces. When the pieces of the surface layer move against each other, an earthquake takes place. A large movement of the layer’s pieces makes a violent earthquake and their small movement a mild one, respectively. Usually, it takes an earthquake only a few seconds to come about and the rolling movements are called seismic waves. Seismic waves begin in an earthquake focus directly below the epicentre of an earthquake and spread outwards, lasting about twenty minutes to travel around the earth. Furthermore, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions often go hand in hand, to wit, earthquakes are responsible for volcanic eruptions or vice versa from the point of view of geography.

By the year 1935, scientists started using the Richter Scale to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. In general, the strength of a seriously destructive earthquake puts a figure of 6.5 and above on the Richter Scale. Quite scientifically, people have no feeling or destruction about an earthquake which measures below 2.0 in the annually estimated range of 1.3 million vibrations. Similarly, minor earthquakes which quantify 2.9 and 3.0, shaking 130,000 and 13,000 times per year respectively, cause little or no destruction to humans. Like the earthquake with 3.0, a moderate earthquake with 4.0 does so, but people will noticeably feel things shaking when it occurs. Much destruction will arise in densely populated areas during a strong earthquake with 5.9, hitting 1,300 times a year. But severe earthquakes with the strength of 6.9, 7.0 and above, striking the times of 10-20 yearly, will give rise to mass destruction.

Unlike other natural disasters, no one, including scientists, can predict an earthquake at all, especially a few days before the earthquake really happens, except several years ahead of the earthquake outbreak. Accordingly, people tend to lead their normal lives without becoming aware of the unexpectedly coming natural disaster. However, earthquake zones are not scattered anywhere apart from certain places where the surface pieces of the earth meet. This makes earthquakes shake the same places again and again, for instance, on the west coasts of North and South America, around the Mediterranean Sea and along the Pacific coast of Asia. What is more, such changes on the earth’s surface as a sudden drop in water level in the ground may be seen before earthquakes. And the way animals do strange like chickens sitting in trees, fish jumping out of the water, or snakes leaving their holes would be found just before earthquakes break out.

By the time an earthquake starts to occur, most earthquake victims usually do not know in a while that the earthquake is moving. They will feel dizzy to a greater or lesser degree as soon as the earthquake happens. Due to this dizziness, most of them like to sit still only in the site where they are during the movement of the earthquake, not knowing whether they get protected over there, except that some go out and run from their buildings to open ground, as far as I am aware. Try to think. As Sayagyi Shwe Ou Daung stated, since the ground on which we are standing safely is rolling and rocking violently beneath our feet, no wonder that we are terrified of the earthquake out of our wits. Of course, any roofed building, high-rise or low-rise buildings included, except for earthquake-proof or earthquake-resistant buildings, is insecure during and even following an earthquake. Hence, it would be best if we stay as far from high buildings and tall trees as possible shortly after an earthquake.

Of course, earthquakes can be categorized into three types: foreshocks, mainshocks and aftershocks. To my certain knowledge, people mainly suffer from the second type. Following an earthquake, earthquake survivors can die from not only a lack of food, water and medical supplies but also tsunamis, fires and snake bites. The amount of destruction caused by an earthquake depends on where it happens, what time it happens, how strong it is, types of buildings, soil conditions and population. I know that of the 6,000 earthquakes in the world each year, only about fifteen cause great damage and many deaths. After a devastating earthquake, the death toll from the earthquake commonly continues to rise as always and collapsed or tilted buildings in earthquake-hit regions are many. As usual, an earthquake is strong enough to cause damage only near its epicentre, yet it is highly dangerous for people living in an earthquake zone or earthquake-prone region. To crown it all, an earthquake destroys human life and ancient buildings that can by no means be saved and gained once again.

Unfortunately for us, our country Myanmar is located along the Sagaing fault, which is long from north to south. That is why Myanmar deadly faces earthquakes in Yangon, Bago, Mandalay and Sagaing regions. On 28 March 2025, an earthquake which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 12:51 pm at a depth of 10 kilometres with an epicentre near Saye village, Sagaing Township, Myanmar. For the second time, another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 happened near Mandalay Airport at 1:02 pm. Thousands of people were killed in this Sagaing earthquake, I suppose. Also owing to the earthquake, the very religious infrastructures were broken down, sad to say. These infrastructures included Mya Thein Tan Pagoda, Shwe Sa Yan Pagoda, Sone Ou Ponya Shin Pagoda and Menu Brick Monastery as far as I can see. So were other priceless buildings such as Sagaing (before Inwwa) Bridge, the Clock Tower, Mandalay University, old-age mosques and churches. It will be said that the Sagaing Earthquake is the worst in Myanmar earthquake history.

Following earthquakes, rescue teams and relief supplies are the life of earthquake sufferers. Rather than do’s and don’ts before, during and after an earthquake, people should not live in probable earthquake sites despite that these places are of natural beauty, productive soil and large existing centres of population. If they have to live there, they should always expect earthquakes, be prepared to protect their lives and property or build safer buildings and roads ahead of time. Hospitals and electric power stations need to be away from possible earthquake zones. When an earthquake starts, people will have to protect their heads from any damage and stay safe in such places as doorways or bathtubs at first if they live in a building and are unable to run away from there very quickly. In actual fact, even seismologists cannot still predict earthquakes. Humans can control many things about nature, but unfortunately for them, these things do not include earthquakes. Earthquakes are given to reach different parts of the world out of the blue, also bringing massive loss of life and the natural environment.

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