MANDALAY, Myanmar/BANGKOK (Kyodo) -- Search and rescue operations continued in central Myanmar on Monday in the wake of last week's magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with the junta saying the death toll had risen to over 2,000 and more than 3,900 injured as the critical 72-hour window to find survivors closed.

Many people are believed to be still trapped under rubble in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, near the epicenter of the powerful quake that hit in the early afternoon on Friday.

Amid shortages of heavy machinery, residents continued search and rescue efforts, clearing debris from damaged houses and other buildings in the city by hand under sweltering 40 C heat.

Foul odors had begun to spread in parts of the city where buildings had collapsed.

With few evacuation centers, aid supplies are not being adequately distributed in Mandalay, and people lack food and water. Some could be seen carrying goods and valuables from damaged stores and residences.

The full extent of the damage is yet unknown as the junta, which took control of Myanmar following a February 2021 coup, is seeing its administrative grip on the country fracture.

According to local media, buildings housing the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies in the capital, Naypyitaw, have been damaged. Roads and bridges in the northern Sagaing region have been cut off, delaying rescue operations and the delivery of relief supplies.

On Friday, Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing made a rare plea to the international community, saying the country welcomes assistance given the enormous scale of damage from the quake.

Russia and China, which maintain friendly ties with the junta that has violently cracked down on pro-democracy groups and ethnic minority rebels, have sent rescue teams following the earthquake. Their operations began in full on Monday.

The opposition National Unity Government, a parallel administration formed by members of the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, has said its armed wing will pause all offensive operations against the military for two weeks to support earthquake relief efforts.

But the military and powerful ethnic minority rebels fighting against it have not declared a cease-fire. According to local media reports, the military continues to carry out airstrikes on areas controlled by opposition forces.

Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said Monday that two Japanese citizens were injured in the earthquake in Myanmar, adding that another has not yet been reached.

Search efforts also continued in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where the earthquake from Myanmar shook buildings. The death toll rose to 18, with about 80 people still missing as of Monday, according to rescue operation agencies. Many of the casualties were crew members working at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed in the quake.