The March 28, 2025, M7.7 earthquake near Mandalay, Burma, occurred as the result of strike slip faulting between the India and Eurasia plates. Focal mechanism solutions indicate that slip occurred on either a north-striking, steeply-dipping, right-lateral fault, or a west striking, steeply-dipping, left-lateral fault. This focal mechanism is consistent with the earthquake potentially occurring on the right-lateral Sagaing Fault that lies in the fault zone that defines the plate boundary between the Indian and Sunda plates.

While commonly plotted as points on maps, earthquakes of this size are more appropriately described as slip over a larger fault area. Strike-slip faults of the size of the March 28, 2025, event are typically about 165 km by 20 km (length x width).

This region has experience similar large strike slip earthquakes, with six other magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes occurring with about 150 miles (250 km) of the March 28, 2025 earthquake since 1900. The most recent of these was a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in January 1990, which caused 32 buildings to fall. A magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurred south of today's earthquake in February 1912. Within this broad zone of tectonic deformation, other large earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in 1988, have caused tens of fatalities.