The March 28 earthquake had a severe impact across central Myanmar, especially in junta-controlled areas. Sagaing, Tada-U, Mandalay, Myittha, Kyaukse, Pyawbwe, Naypyitaw, Pyinmana, and Taungoo were heavily affected.
The hardest-hit area stretches approximately 350 km along the Sagaing Fault from Sagaing to Taungoo.
This part of the country is home to hundreds of military bases, including war office headquarters, yet so far no images of damaged military buildings have surfaced, either in junta-controlled media or anywhere else, though some independent media have verbally reported about the damage.
The following is a breakdown of military battalions and units between Taungoo and Sagaing.
Naypyitaw
Naypyitaw is home to the junta’s war office headquarters. It houses offices for high-ranking officers including the commander-in-chief of Defense Services, the deputy commander-in-chief, and the chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Force. The adjutant-general, quartermaster-general, judge advocate general, intelligence chief, directorate of defense industries chief, inspector-general, air defense chief, and officers overseeing training and appointment also have their offices here.
Additionally, there are offices for artillery, missiles, armor, communications, and engineering, as well as combat support units like public relations and psychological warfare, medical corps, military police, recruitment, audit, and logistics. There are thousands of offices and staff apartments in Naypyitaw.
Taungoo
The Southern Command and its subordinate battalions are stationed in Taungoo, which also has an airbase.
Meiktila
Meiktila is a garrison town that hosts the 99th Light Infantry Division headquarters and subordinate battalions, along with combat support units. It also has an airbase.
Mandalay
The Central Command and subordinate battalions as well as the central armaments depot are based in Mandalay. There is a civilian airport in Tada-U which is also used by the military for aerial operations.
Sagaing
The 33rd Light Infantry Division and subordinate battalions are based in Sagaing.
That means there are war office headquarters, key military offices, three regional commands, two light infantry divisions, and one regional operations command.
How hard was the military hit?
As Myanmar continues to grapple with the aftermath of the earthquake, ongoing rescue operations and communication breakdowns have made it difficult to determine the precise extent of damage sustained by the military. The junta has imposed a news blackout on damage to its infrastructure.
What is certain is that there were thousands of government office buildings among some 20,000-plus structures that collapsed in the earthquake. In Naypyitaw government offices and staff housing units suffered substantial damage, with reports indicating fatalities among government employees and their families.
According to the BBC, a secret underground command center beneath Naypyitaw’s war office headquarters was damaged by the earthquake. The facility, known as the “Secret Tunnels,” has been externally secured since the disaster, and communication equipment has been retrieved to the extent possible, according to military sources cited by BBC.
The tunnels have enough capacity for five offices and form a communication network with regional commands. They are stocked with enough essential provisions including food, water, and oxygen to support hundreds of personnel. They are also purportedly connected to the residences of three senior military leaders.
Military defectors also report that the earthquake caused significant damage to buildings within Central Command headquarters in Mandalay Palace, with over 200 people injured.
Interrogation blocks in Mandalay Palace were also reportedly wrecked by the earthquake. Reports indicate that approximately 70 percent of the structures in the palace compound collapsed.
The 33rd Light Infantry Division in Sagaing and Shan Te Airbase in Meiktila were also reportedly affected, resulting in casualties among soldiers. According to defectors, the day of the earthquake coincided with regular gatherings at battalion headquarters, and many participants were killed or injured when the buildings collapsed.
Even facilities such as the ordnance factories known as KaPaSa, which did not sustain structural damage, experienced operational disruptions for several days due to power outages.
That means the regime will have to spend billions or trillions of kyats on the necessary repairs to its fortress of Naypyitaw and elsewhere. This increase in military spending is likely to push the regime into a full-fledged budget crisis.
While it is impossible to precisely calculate the scale of the military’s losses from the earthquake, it is clear that the disaster dealt it a significant blow.
Moe Sett Nyein Chan is a military analyst.
