The Road to Mandalay

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar in March 2025, devastating communities across the country. Al Jazeera was the only international broadcaster with a team on the ground to witness the unfolding crisis. What emerged was a story of survival against overwhelming odds.
From the capital Naypyidaw to the spiritual heart of Mandalay, our cameras captured the desperate search for survivors and the scale of destruction. At the epicentre, entire neighbourhoods lay in ruins as hundreds of thousands of people found themselves without shelter, clean water or food. Emergency services struggled to cope with the response required.
The disaster struck a nation already fractured by civil conflict, where a military government appeared ill-equipped to handle the crisis. Over seven days, Al Jazeera correspondent Tony Cheng documented not just the immediate aftermath, but how this natural catastrophe exposed deeper challenges facing the people of Myanmar during their darkest hour.

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