Myanmar junta lets post-quake truce expire

When the military pledged to pause offensives, it warned the myriad of anti-coup and ethnic armed groups it is battling that it would strike back if they advance.

During the ceasefire period, opposition armed groups besieged towns on a lucrative eastern trade route to Thailand, according to locals, who said fighting had forced many civilians from their homes.

The quake was the strongest centred on Myanmar’s landmass since 1912, according to the United States Geological Survey, with the ground shearing up to 6m in places, according to NASA analysis.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies this week predicted it would take the country two years to fully recover from the disaster.