Rapid Site Report: Earthquake Damage to the Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery in Inn Wa, Myanmar

On 28 March 2025, a M7.7 earthquake occurred 16.5km west of Mandalay, Myanmar, when the Sagaing Fault ruptured. As a result, cultural heritage sites have sustained extensive damage. Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery, commonly referred to as the Me Nu Brick Monastery, and surrounding pagodas in Inn Wa, Myanmar,­­­ were destroyed during the earthquake. Analysis conducted by the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (CHML), in collaboration with the Museum Conservation Institute—Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (MCI-SCRI), confirmed this damage. This review was undertaken after news reports of damage to the monastery and other cultural heritage sites in April 2025.

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CITE THIS REPORT: Fitzgerald, K., Bassett, H., Hanson, K., Averyt, K., Kane, K. E., Welsh, W., Maher, A., Muller, C. E., and Gunter-Bassett, M. (2025). “Rapid Site Report: Earthquake Damage to the Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery in Inn Wa, Myanmar.” Virginia Museum of Natural History, Cultural Heritage Monitoring Lab, and Smithsonian Institution, Museum Conservation Institute—Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. DOI: 10.25573/data.28789934.