State Department 'evaluating the need' for earthquake response (2025)

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Key Headlines Death toll crosses 2,000 State Department 'evaluating the need' for earthquake response American recounts being stranded after earthquake Trump: 'We're going to be helping' State Department 'not aware' of any US casualties at this time Related Topics Sponsored Content by Taboola

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled much of Southeast Asia on Friday.

ByMark Osborne, Jon Haworth, Meredith Deliso, David Brennan, Ivan Pereira, Kevin Shalvey, and Megan Forrester

Last Updated: March 31, 2025, 3:38 PM EDT

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled much of Southeast Asia on Friday, resulting in mounting casualties and flattened skyscrapers from Myanmar to Thailand.

The epicenter was in Mandalay, Myanmar, the country's second-largest city. Even Bangkok, some 600 miles away, felt widespread shaking and saw significant damage from the quake -- including the total collapse of a skyscraper under construction.

State Department 'evaluating the need' for earthquake response (1)

Key Headlines

Mar 31, 2025, 3:38 PM EDT
IRC teams report unprecedented destruction
Mar 31, 2025, 1:22 PM EDT
International teams fill the void in US absence
Mar 31, 2025, 12:56 PM EDT
US Embassy in Myanmar announces $2 million to address humanitarian needs
Mar 31, 2025, 12:13 PM EDT
Myanmar death toll climbs to 2,056

Here's how the news is developing.

Mar 31, 12:28 pm

Death toll crosses 2,000

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Casualties are expected to rise as search and rescue efforts are underway in collapsed buildings in Myanmar and Thailand, officials said.

In Myanmar, the death toll has climbed to 2,056, with more than 3,900 people injured and 270 people reported missing, according to the Myanmar Military Junta.

In Bangkok, at least 13 people were killed in a building collapse in Chatuchak, according to the Bangkok Metro Authority.

Mar 28, 2025, 3:51 PM EDT

State Department 'evaluating the need' for earthquake response

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said despite the tumult at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. has maintained "a team of disaster experts with the capacity to respond if disaster strikes," which are commonly referred to as DART teams.

"These expert teams provide immediate assistance, including food and safe drinking water needed aftermath of a disaster. The United States is evaluating the need for assistance based on requests and dynamic reporting,” she said. [14:47:29]

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But despite President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. is going to be helping, Bruce suggested the State Department was still in standby mode.

"What I can tell you is that we wait for formal requests," she said. "We are ready. Obviously, we are watching what is transpiring."

Bruce insisted that despite the funding flip-flops and reorganization of USAID, "there has been no impact on our ability to perform those duties, those requests for aid, if and when they come in."

-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston

Mar 28, 2025, 3:30 PM EDT

American recounts being stranded after earthquake

An American who was on a subway train in Bangkok when the earthquake struck recounted being stranded as transportation in the city ground to a halt.

When her train stopped, Sid Simone said she went on Facebook to find out what was going on.

"I saw 'earthquake in Bangkok,' and so at that point, I knew that the entire city was going to start to diminish," the Michigan native told ABC Grand Rapids affiliate WZZM in an interview earlier Friday. "I have been trying to get home for five hours now."

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With no train service, Simone, who is in Bangkok to make a documentary on vegan food, said she got into a taxi but abandoned it when traffic came to a standstill and the vehicle was low on gas.

WZZM spoke to her as she was walking along a highway, still about an hour from home.

"It's unfortunate because there's so many people that, we're all fighting trying to get home, but some people are trying to fight to get home because their family member is under that building, you know. Somebody didn't make it home," she told WZZM.

She told the station that her apartment complex was just down the street from where the under-construction high-rise collapsed.

"I was so blessed that I was not there today," she said. “I could have been shopping in that area."

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Mar 28, 2025, 1:30 PM EDT

Trump: 'We're going to be helping'

Asked about the Myanmar earthquake during a press event at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "We're going to be helping."

"It's terrible what's happened," he said. "We've already spoken with the country."

Trump did not elaborate on how the U.S. plans to send foreign aid.

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Mar 28, 2025, 1:30 PM EDT

State Department 'not aware' of any US casualties at this time

The U.S. State Department is "not aware of any U.S. citizens injured or killed" in the earthquake at this time, a State Department official said.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely and are in touch with local authorities," the official added.

The State Department said in a statement it extends "our deepest condolences to all affected in Burma and Thailand by the earthquake that struck near Mandalay earlier this morning."

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-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston