On March 28, 2025, life changed dramatically for the people of Mandalay; at 12:50 PM local time, the ground beneath Myanmar’s second-largest city shook violently. A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake tore through a 200-kilometer stretch of the Sagaing Fault. In less than ninety seconds, buildings crumbled, roads split open, and panic spread like wildfire. Just eleven minutes later, a magnitude 6.4 aftershock jolted the region again, adding to the devastation. This devastation is related to the tectonic story of this region, which connects most regions in South and Southeast Asia to one another. The northward motion of the Indian Plate continues to build strain at the plate margins where it interacts with the Eurasian Plate. Kashmir is part of this convergence belt, which is why we are directly connected to this devastation and must learn from it. While smaller aftershocks have continued since, this event serves as a grim reminder of the power earthquakes wield — and the lessons they carry for other regions, especially Kashmir.

The scale of devastation witnessed in Myanmar is not unfolding yet because of the non-openness of the current administration. And our estimates suggest that the hazards have turned into disasters because the ground was not........

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