Death toll climbs to more than 1,600 after Myanmar earthquake

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, locals gather near a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake in Mandalay, Myanmar (Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua/AP)

The confirmed death toll from a devastating earthquake rose to more than 1,600, according to state television in Myanmar.

The new total of 1,644 is a sharp rise over the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier, underlining the difficulty of confirming casualties over a widespread region and the likelihood that the numbers will continue to grow from Friday’s 7.7 magnitude quake.