After quake, aid groups warn Myanmar has overwhelming need for food, water and health care

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• Geoff Bennett:

  Recovery efforts from the earthquake last week in Myanmar are slow-moving. The country is grappling with a natural disaster, plus an ongoing humanitarian crisis amid a civil war that started four years ago.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The death toll has now risen past 2,700, with more than 4,500 people injured and at least 440 still missing.

  Stephanie Sy has this report.

• Stephanie Sy:

  As sirens wailed, rescue workers in Mandalay stood still, a one-minute pause to honor the thousands of victims of Friday's earthquake, and then back to work.Teams are still sifting through the rubble for survivors.

  Officials said a 63-year-old woman was found alive today in a collapsed building in Naypyidaw. She'd been trapped for almost four days. But hopes for finding more survivors dim with each hour, said the head of Myanmar's military.

• Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar Military Leader (through interpreter):

  Among the missing, most are assumed to be dead. There is a narrow chance for them to remain alive, as it has been over 72 hours.

• Stephanie Sy:

  The army took control of the country in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war and humanitarian crisis.

  Melissa Hein, Head of Communications, World Food Program Myanmar: Before the earthquake, people had been dealing with four years of conflict in Myanmar.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Melissa Hein works for the World Food Program in the Southeast Asian nation.

• Melissa Hein:

  So there were some 20 million people already needing humanitarian assistance and 3.5 million people displaced. And that was before Friday.

• Stephanie Sy:

  The epicenter of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake was near Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city. The impact area is widespread, including rural areas with scarce communication infrastructure.

  The cities are overwhelmed. Patients wait to be seen in overcrowded hospitals and makeshift wars have been set up outside. International organizations are surging resources into the country. But the supply of basic necessities like food and water is scarce, handed out in single portions.

  Recent cuts to American aid may leave a gap, says Hein.

• Melissa Hein:

  I think about 40 percent of humanitarian assistance for Myanmar was thanks to the U.S. government.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Under the Trump administration, which has gutted USAID, the umbrella organization for American aid abroad, the U.S. response to the disaster has been limited.

  Yesterday, the State Department said it was sending a handful of humanitarian workers and $2 million.

• Melissa Hein:

  We expect that this earthquake response will cost around $20 million at least.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Other countries have stepped in to fill the vacuum. Russia sent rescue teams and established a mobile hospital.

• Sergei Voronstov, Leader, Russian Rescue Team (through interpreter):

  Today, we launched operations. We have the first patients already.

• Stephanie Sy:

  And China, which shares a border with Myanmar, was the first to send rescue teams, trumpeting its efforts on state TV. This interview was first broadcast by China News Service.

• Woman (through interpreter):

  I wish all the rescue team members a safe and healthy life, and I appreciate you all.

• Stephanie Sy:

  At least 10,000 buildings have collapsed. Residents are encamped along the streets, in fear of aftershocks that continue to convulse their already fragile nation.

  For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.