Myanmar's military rulers have kept journalists out since the devastating earthquake, so CBS News' partners at the BBC went undercover to reveal the scale of the disaster.

The powerful earthquake, which had its epicenter in central Myanmar about 13 miles from Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, struck around 12:50 p.m. local time, the New York Times reported. It was followed by several tremors, including a 6.4 magnitude aftershock which occurred just 11 minutes later.

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from the earthquake that hit Myanmar has risen to more than 1,700 as more bodies have been pulled from the rubble, the country’s military-led government said Monday.

Sagaing bore the brunt of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake and, five days on, people are digging out bodies from the rubble themselves in a city where Sky News found mass graves and the stench of death.

A 63-year-old woman was pulled alive from under the rubble Tuesday about 91 hours after Myanmar was struck by a devastating, 7.7 magnitude earthquake, the Myanmar Fire Services Department said on social media.

S ince March 28th, when a powerful earthquake shook Myanmar’s central heartlands, the country’s brutal junta has tried to show the world its softer side. Min Aung Hlaing, its leader, has visited survivors in a hospital and asked foreigners to send help.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in the throes of a prolonged and bloody civil war, which is already responsible for a massive humanitarian crisis.

Large quakes produce shaking at a variety of frequencies. Some waves can travel hundreds of miles, and are amplified by local geological conditions.

The 7.7 Myanmar temblor raises questions about earthquake preparedness in Southeast Asia — and California. What can the rest of the world learn?