PEOPLE dug frantically with their bare hands through the debris of collapsed buildings in Myanmar’s second-largest city today, two days after a massive earthquake killed more than 1,700 people and left thousands buried.

The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicentre was near Mandalay, hit at about noon on Friday, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city's airport.

Relief efforts have been hampered by damaged roads, collapsed bridges, interruptions to communications and the challenges of operating in a country torn by civil war.