Earthquakes
Myanmar & Thailand Earthquake
Myanmar, Thailand
7.7 Magnitude
28 March, 2025 On 28 March 2025, at 1:30 pm local time, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck several regions of Myanmar, with effects reaching as far as Thailand and parts of China.
Myanmar
Myanmar Earthquake – Extent & Impact
- On 28 Mar 2025, a 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar, centered near Mandalay along Sagaing Fault.
- Most powerful earthquake to hit Myanmar since 1912.
- Caused over 1,600 deaths, with many more injured and missing.
- Damage to property includes residential buildings, religious structures, infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and cultural heritage sites.
Region-wise damage
Mandalay:
- Estimated damage to 50% of all buildings.
- Structural damage to Mandalay International Airport and Mandalay University.
- 30+ mosques destroyed.
- 12 storey condominium progressively collapsed.
- Two-storey tea shop and three-storey car accessories store collapsed.
- Heritage sites like Mandalay Palance and Mahamuni Pagoda suffered structural damage.
Sagaing Region:
- Ava Bridge (890 m long) collapsed.
- 4 out of 5 mosques in the city collapsed.
- Several monastic schools and historic temples were damaged.
Naypyidaw Union Territory:
- Apartments in townships collapsed.
- Air Traffic Control tower at the International Airport collapsed.
- Extensive damage to government and military facilities – destroying parliament buildings and housing for government officials.
- The Defense Services Museum and National Museum were also damaged.
Shan State:
- Damage to household structures in many villages, some of which operated as family-run businesses.
- Significant damage to homes, schools, churches, and a pagoda in villages near the border with Kayah State.
- Reports of a hotel in Aung Ban that collapsed completely.
Yangon:
- Myanmar’s largest city experienced minor damage compared to other regions, as noted above.
- Phone lines were down, and telecommunication services were disabled for most of the day, with electricity available intermittently.
Potential Impact on Specific Industries
Garment Industry Supply Chain
Global fashion brands source labour, production facilities, and other aspects of the supply chain from Myanmar. These will be heavily disrupted due to the earthquake:
- Displaced many labourers with loss of access to basic needs such as food.
- Damage to production facilities and warehouses.
Tourism
- With damage to heritage sites, monasteries, pagodas, and even hotels, there will be significant disruption to the tourism and hospitality sector.
- However, given the political situation with the ruling military, the impact of the earthquake, specifically on tourism, may not be straightforward to ascertain.
Energy and Telecom
- Power outages across the impacted cities left people queuing up at petrol stations for fuel to use in electric generators.
- Phone and internet services were disrupted significantly.
- A powerplant operated by Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries reported a power trip due to the earthquake, but no physical damage was reported to the powerplant.
Agricultural Product Processing and Machinery Production
- Mandalay is home to many factories that process agricultural products and manufacture machinery. There have been no specific reports about damage to factories; however, considering the scale of damage in Mandalay, it is possible to expect disruption and damages to such factories.
Economic Impact of Earthquake
According to the United States Geological Society (USGS), the potential loss of life is in multiple thousands and the economic impact may well exceed the GDP of Myanmar.
Potential Complications of the Political Situation
Myanmar is led by a military government that overthrew the democratic government in 2021 as part of a coup.
The country has been in a civil war since the coup, which has already caused a lot of displacement and destruction in the country.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, the destruction from the military continued as they dropped bombs on the Shan State, causing damage to villages that were already impacted by the earthquakes.
The military also made a rare request for humanitarian aid from the international community, which is unusual and a clear signal of the extent of the impact of the earthquake.
Impact on Insurance Claims
Most Claims exclude any acts of terrorism or civil war, rendering a lot of the claims in the conflict zones ineligible. The military’s continued acts of destruction in areas affected by earthquakes could pose some complications to the cause of damage.
There may be MNCs in Mandalay with coverage. However, it may be unlikely for a lot of the impacted SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) to have formal insurance coverage against natural disasters.
Thailand
Bangkok was declared a disaster area following the earthquake.
- Rescue workers raced to free more than 80 trapped workers after an under-construction skyscraper collapsed.
- The powerful tremors brought down a 30-storey skyscraper under construction, the future State Audit Office. It collapsed near the Chatuchak weekend market, and about 80 workers are still unaccounted for as of 1st April.
- Also, a bridge at the luxury condominium under construction in the Thonglor neighbourhood of Bangkok collapsed on Friday following a tremor triggered by the earthquake in Myanmar.
- While the earthquake rattled buildings across Bangkok, leading to mass evacuations and suspension of public transport for a day, the city emerged largely unscathed in contrast to the massive destruction in Myanmar.
- Only a couple hundred metres from the collapsed government State Audit Office building is the Chatuchak Market — popular among tourists and locals — which continued to operate on the weekend.
- On 28 March 2025, AOT temporarily halted aircraft departures at all airports for safety. Landings continued as usual. Air traffic services remained unaffected, and by 2:30 PM, both domestic and international flights resumed normal operations. The situation has returned to normal, with AOT closely monitoring the situation and preparing backup airports for emergencies.
- The earthquake caused panic among the public, leading to evacuations from high-rise buildings, the closure of offices and businesses, and massive traffic jams across the city. In Chiang Mai, congestion increased by 50%, while in Bangkok, traffic moved at an average speed of only 13 km/h. Even 8 hours after the earthquake, normal traffic conditions had not resumed.
- The Bangkok Skytrain was halted for over 10 hours due to safety concerns, leaving over a million commuters stranded. Service resumed in the early morning of March 29, 2025, except for the MRT Pink Line resuming service in the early morning of March 31, 2025, after checking the structural integrity. Public buses, despite being allocated additional vehicles, faced challenges with insufficient numbers and heavy traffic.
- Passenger boats continued service, but they are not a major transportation option for the public and cannot handle large crowds. Meanwhile, taxis and ridesharing vehicles were in short supply, causing fares to rise 2-3 times higher than usual. Many people had no choice but to walk long distances to get home.
- Most of Thailand’s infrastructure has remained resilient, but some areas have sustained damage. The Din Daeng expressway ramps remain closed due to a collapsed crane, though all other road, air, and water routes are fully operational. The Ministry of Transport has launched structural inspections nationwide, focusing on high-risk areas such as bridges and elevated roads.
- All Central shopping malls resumed normal operations on March 29, 2025.
- There has been damage to residential buildings. Some structures are deemed unsafe, and residents are not allowed to re-enter. Additionally, the lifts are not fully operational.
- On March 30, 2025, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) downgraded the disaster severity from Level 3 to Level 2, after assessing the situation in 18 provinces and Bangkok. The impact was found to be contained. However, DDPM will continue to coordinate and support ongoing efforts in all affected areas.
- On March 31, 2025, several high-rise buildings reported abnormalities and evacuated residents. The Meteorological Department confirmed that aftershocks did not affect Thailand.
Causes of building collapse in Thailand following the earthquake
- Bangkok is built on soft soil causing the vibrations of the earth to slow down and build up. Thus, Bangkok’s geology would have made the ground shaking more intense.
- In Thailand, while there were regulations in 43 provinces on earthquake-proofing buildings, less than 10% of buildings are estimated to be quake-resistant. This is not unusual, as earthquake-resistant buildings can be more expensive to construct, and Thailand, unlike Myanmar, does not frequently experience earthquakes.
Affected industries and Impact on the insurance sector
- Additionally, the deadly earthquake is set to hurt foreign tourist arrivals to Thailand in the coming weeks due to safety concerns. About 10% of foreign tourists checked out early after the quake. International tourist arrivals are expected to drop by 10-15% or even more in the next two weeks.
- Hotel bookings during the water-splashing Songkran festival next month are down compared with two years ago, and post-tremor safety concerns could further hurt confidence among foreign visitors.
- The Thai insurance sector is assessing damage estimated to exceed one billion baht following the collapse of a partially constructed State Audit Office (SAO) building during the recent earthquake.
- The 30-story SAO building, approximately 30% complete with a construction budget of 2.136 billion baht, suffered catastrophic structural failure during the earthquake on March 28, 2025.
- The building was insured under a Contractor All Risk (CAR) policy with a total sum insured of 2.241 billion baht, shared proportionally among Dhipaya Insurance (40%), Bangkok Insurance (25%), Southeast Insurance (now Indra Insurance) (25%), and Viriyah Insurance (10%).
- Insurance companies are also preparing to handle claims from other affected properties, including high-rise buildings, offices, condominiums, hospitals, and vehicles in Bangkok and other major cities. It is anticipated that a clearer picture of the overall insurance market impact will emerge within a week.
Thai General Insurance Association (“TGIA”) Conference on 30 March 2025
Six types of insurance policies that provide earthquake coverage:
- Motor Insurance
Coverage for earthquake damage is provided only under Type 1 motor insurance policies or Type 2+ and 3+ policies that include extended coverage for natural disasters.
- Fire Insurance for Residential Properties
Coverage for earthquake damage is provided but limited to THB 20,000 per year and in aggregate of all other natural disasters, including but not limited to windstorms, floods, hail, and earthquakes. Additional coverage can be purchased. Total number of policies currently effective in Thailand is 5.4 million.
- Industrial All Risk (IAR)
Coverage for earthquake damage is provided but limited to the sub limit stated in the policy. For business enterprises, it provides coverage for damage to insured property inside the premises. Total number of policies currently effective in Thailand is 194,389.
- Business Interruption (BI)
Coverage of earthquake damage is provided to cover financial loss, including loss of opportunities, net profit, and operational expenses such as employee salaries and rental costs. This is applied only if the insured buildings or assets are damaged under the fire insurance or IAR policies, provided there are no policy exclusions.
- Contract All Risk (CAR)
Coverage for earthquake damage to construction projects, civil engineering works, machinery installations, and third-party liability. Coverage / loss value depends on the percentage of completion at the time of loss.
Sources
https://www.tgia.org/upload/file_group/29/download_2470.pdf
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40048045
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40048045
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40048045
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40048045
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40047998
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/105113556
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