Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest stories about extreme weather and natural disasters in Asia. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider .
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
Corruption, complacency and climate chaos conspire to turn the Philippines’ natural hazards into man-made tragedies.