The Myanmar Fire Services Department conducts emergency search and rescue operations after the March 28 earthquake. Myanmar Fire Services Department's Facebook Account / handout / Anadolu via Getty ImagesA devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake, followed by powerful aftershocks, struck war-torn Myanmar on Fridaymarking one of the countrys strongest quakes in more than a century. Its epicenter was near Myanmars second largest city of Mandalay and the neighboring Sagaing in the central part of the country. Residents felt the shaking severely even in Thailands capital city, Bangkok, located hundreds of miles away.According to Myanmars military leaders, more than 2,000 deaths, 3,900 injured and 270 missing people were confirmed by Monday, as reported by the Associated Press David Rising. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), however, estimates the deaths could ultimately surpass 10,000. In Bangkok, the earthquake caused a skyscraper under construction to collapse, with 17 reported dead and 76 missing, per the United Nations (U.N.).The earthquake struck around 12:50 p.m. local time and occurred as the result of strike slip faulting between the India and Eurasia plates, the USGS tectonic summary reads. This type of earthquake results from a sideways motion along a fault line. What made this one especially deadly was its strength, location near populated areas and shallow depth of just about six miles, writes Science News Carolyn Gramling. Merely ten minutes later, the region was struck by a magnitude 6.4 aftershock.The shaking damaged public infrastructure, including buildings and roads, and it destroyed the bridge that connects Mandalay to Sagaing, said Marie Manrique, program coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross, to reporters, per Reuters Olivia Le Poidevin. Additionally, Manrique expressed concerns for large-scale dams.A situation report by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also outlines severe damage at hotels, universities, historical and religious sites, electricity and water infrastructure, communication towers and the Mandalay International Airport.I couldnt process what was happening. I just ran. I barely escaped. The moment I stepped outside, bricks started falling from the ceiling. We all ran to the open field near our house, recounts a 16-year-old student who was in Mandalay during the earthquake, in a Save the Children statement. This was the first earthquake I had ever experienced. It was terrifying.Since 1900, the region has experienced similarly powerful earthquakes six times, not including the most recent one, according to the USGS. In 1990, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake brought down 32 buildings.The New York Times Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur reported Friday that Myanmars military government is censoring some online information regarding the disaster. But the countrys hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed by patients necessitating medical care. Myanmar is currently in a civil war that followed a military coup in February 2021 and has displaced more than three million people.The situation is very complicated, because there are significant communication blackouts in some of the hardest hit areas, and this is due to the ongoing conflict, Federica Franco, the leader of Doctors Without Borders work in Myanmar, says in a voice note sent from Yangon and published by the humanitarian organization.The leader of the military government has announced an open invitation to any organizations and nations willing to come and help the people in need within our country, in what CNNs Ross Adkin, Alex Stambaugh and Kocha Olarn have described as a rare plea from a regime that had largely isolated itself from the world for years. Countries including China, India, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand have sent rescue teams to look for survivors among the rubble.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Death, Earthquakes, Natural Disasters