Asia’s 2025 in extreme weather and natural disasters, from deadly earthquakes to typhoons

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1. ‘It’s like apocalypse’: Myanmar, Thailand quake death toll tops 1,600

The death toll from the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that rocked Myanmar and Thailand exceeded 1,600 on March 29, 2025, as rescuers in worst-affected Mandalay clawed chunks of debris with their bare hands to free the city’s trapped victims while ruptured roads, collapsed bridges and blackouts hampered aid efforts across a vast area of devastation.

2. Indonesia’s cyclone tragedy exposes lethal cost of forest destruction

Indonesia is facing renewed calls to curb deforestation and tighten oversight of forest concessions after a rare tropical cyclone tore across Sumatra, unleashing floods and landslides that have killed more than 700 people and left hundreds missing.

3. 6 cyclones, 5 weeks: Philippines can’t escape its endless cycle of disaster

A woman walks along a mud-covered street in Liloan, Cebu province, in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on November 6. Photo: AFP
A woman walks along a mud-covered street in Liloan, Cebu province, in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi on November 6. Photo: AFP

Corruption, complacency and climate chaos conspire to turn the Philippines’ natural hazards into man-made tragedies.

  

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