Civil servants left homeless as Myanmar’s capital reels from impact of massive quake

The massive 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck near Mandalay last Friday has not only laid waste to large parts of Myanmar’s last royal capital, but has also devastated the seat of its current military rulers, leaving many in Naypyitaw, the junta’s “abode of kings,” scrambling for a place to live.

Since the sprawling city, carved out of the jungles of central Myanmar, became the country’s administrative centre two decades ago, it has been largely spared the worst of what nature could throw at it. While Yangon, the erstwhile capital, suffered substantial damage when Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady delta in 2008, Naypyitaw, some 230 miles to the north, went unscathed.

This time, however, the city that houses all of the country’s top generals was not so lucky. While little is known of how the junta leaders’ palatial mansions fared in the quake, it is clear that the legions of petty officials and other public employees serving under them have taken a major hit.