India has dispatched a humanitarian aid flight to Myanmar, following a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake that caused widespread destruction in the war-torn country, according to India's Foreign Minister on Saturday.

The Myanmar junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, made an unusually rare appeal for international assistance, highlighting the severity of the disaster that has claimed at least 694 lives and left 1,670 others injured.

Historically, Myanmar's military regimes have resisted foreign aid, even in the aftermath of major natural disasters.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed that a C-130 military transport aircraft had been sent, carrying essential supplies such as hygiene kits, blankets, food parcels, and other necessities.

"A search and rescue team, along with a medical team, is also accompanying the flight," Jaishankar added. "We will continue to monitor the situation, and additional aid will be sent as needed."

The minister shared images on social media showing India's national disaster response agency personnel loading supplies onto the plane.

The earthquake, which struck on Friday, caused widespread destruction, flattening buildings, collapsing bridges, and damaging roads across Myanmar, with the worst-hit area being Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.

According to U.S. geologists, this was the strongest earthquake to strike Myanmar in over a century.

The tremors were so powerful that they caused significant damage to buildings in Bangkok, hundreds of kilometers away from the earthquake's epicentre.