Service members from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command assist in relief efforts, including debris removal and search and rescue, in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 30, 2025. (U.S. Indo-Pacific Command)
The United States is sending military personnel to its ally Thailand and monetary assistance to Myanmar to help the neighboring countries recover from a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the area Friday.
More than 2,000 people were dead in Myanmar’s second largest city, Mandalay, near the quake epicenter, where the smell of decaying bodies blanketed the streets, according to The Associated Press on Monday. Another 3,900 were injured and about 270 missing, the AP reported.
In Thailand’s capital, home to more than 5 million people, the death toll rose to 18 with 33 injured and 78 missing as of Monday morning, Bangkok’s city hall announced on its Facebook page that day.
An undisclosed number of personnel from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command were coordinating with their Thai military counterparts and first responders on “everything from debris clearing to personnel recovery,” command spokesman Maj. Matthew Gregory said Monday.
The exact number of personnel were “in flux as the situation continues to evolve,” but included U.S. Army engineers, U.S. Navy Seabees, K9 handlers and others, he told Stars and Stripes by email Monday. The Seabees are the Navy’s construction battalion.
“Specialized [search-and-rescue] personnel, engineers and capabilities from around the Indo-Pacific are responding during this solemn time and we will continue to support those affected by the 7.7 earthquake as requested by our Ally,” Gregory wrote.
Unidentified U.S. military personnel from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command meet with first responders at the Search and Rescue Operations Center near the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 30, 2025. (U.S. Indo-Pacific Command)
Myanmar and Thailand share border approximately 1,500 miles long. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is embroiled in a civil war that began following a coup d’etat in 2021.
A partial ceasefire to facilitate relief efforts was announced Saturday by the National Unity Government, the country’s government-in-exile that’s fighting Myanmar’s ruling military, the AP said in a separate report Monday.
Gregory declined to comment on whether INDOPACOM troops would assist in recovery efforts in Myanmar.
The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar announced Sunday that the U.S. would provide $2 million in aid “through Myanmar-based humanitarian assistance organizations,” according to its website.
In addition, a U.S. Agency of International Development emergency response team is deploying to Myanmar to “identify the people’s most pressing needs, including emergency shelter, food, medical needs, and access to water,” the embassy wrote.
The announcement came just two days after President Donald Trump informed Congress that his administration would move to cut most of the remaining jobs at USAID, Reuters reported Saturday.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-NY, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump’s decision to gut USAID was reckless and that China and Russia are “already filling in the gaps” left by a lack of U.S. foreign assistance, according to a Friday statement posted to the committee’s website.
China on Saturday announced it would send two rescue teams and give 100 million yuan, or about $13.7 million, to Myanmar in aid, according to the China International Development Cooperation Agency.
Likewise, Russia dispatched its own aid, including aircraft, doctors and search-and-rescue teams, the AP reported Saturday.
