Foreign hello and welcome to NewsHour from the World Service of the BBC.
Coming to you live from London, this is Owen Bennett Jones.
The death toll from the earthquake in Myanmar is already up to 1600 people.
And that number is expected to rise quite sharply, probably as more information comes out.
It is hard to get a clear picture of what's happening in the worst hit areas.
And there are a number of reasons for that.
There is a civil war.
Communications are, for the large part, down occasionally,
as you'll hear, we do get some voice notes out.
The ability of journalists to do their job is also an issue.
Reporters Without Borders says reporters there face the risk of torture, arrest or murder.
So obviously are very cautious in what they say.
Mandalay is the hardest hit city in Myanmar.
This resident described the moment the earthquake struck.
I feel so sorry to see the situation.
All the pagodas and temples, including stairways.
In my village, have collapsed.
We've lost everything.
I feel so sad to see this kind of sorrowful situation.
Up until now, I've never experienced anything similar to this.