The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Julie Bishop, has made her first visit to the military-ruled nation since her appointment last year, meeting with the foreign minister as the country recovers from an earthquake that killed more than 3,600 people. Ms Bishop met with Foreign Minister Than Swe and other officials at a temporary tented area outside of the ministry's damaged building in the capital Naypyitaw on Wednesday. A former Australian foreign minister and current chancellor of the Australian National University, Ms Bishop was appointed as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres's envoy to Myanmar in April last year. Her appointment drew flak last month when a group opposed to military rule in Myanmar alleged that she had business links to Chinese companies with interests in Myanmar, amounting to a conflict of interest. She denied any wrongdoing. China, along with Russia, is one of the ruling military's major backers, while much of the Western world shuns and sanctions the generals for toppling democracy and serious human rights abuses, including the brutal use of force in its war against the pro-democracy resistance and ethnic minority guerillas. Mr Guterres said ahead of Ms Bishop's visit that it would "reinforce the UN's commitment to peace and dialogue". The office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General announced that Ms Bishop had visited Malaysia, a key partner of the United Nations in efforts to support a Myanmar-led political solution to the crisis and to respond to humanitarian needs following the earthquake. Wednesday night's MRTV report said Ms Bishop and Myanmar officials discussed coordination between Myanmar and the United Nations on aid for quake-affected people, but did not detail further plans. 'Large-scale' humanitarian effort needed It has been more than a week since a magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar. The earthquake caused significant damage to six regions and states, leaving many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaging roads and bridges, exacerbating hardships caused by the South-East Asian nation's continuing civil war. "This is a crisis on top of a crisis for Myanmar, where the humanitarian situation is already dire," said Arif Noor, CARE Myanmar country director. Mr Noor described the earthquake's devastation as immense, saying a "large-scale humanitarian effort" was required. "We call on the international community to step forward to support people in Myanmar. They cannot afford to wait," he said. The UN refugee agency rushed emergency supplies from its existing stocks to help about 25,000 of the worst-affected survivors. "UNHCR is mobilising further aid from its warehouses in Myanmar to support an additional 25,000 people, but stocks need to be urgently replenished to meet the massive needs of people affected by the earthquake and years of conflict," said Trudi Mitchell, CEO of Australia for UNHCR. Death toll still climbing Major General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the military government, said late on Wednesday that the earthquake's death toll had reached 3,649, with 5,018 injured and 145 missing. The earthquake destroyed 48,834 houses, 3,094 Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, 2,045 schools, 2,171 departmental offices and buildings, 148 bridges and 5,275 pagodas, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported, citing Vice-Senior General Soe Win, the vice-chairman of the ruling military council. Myanmar has been in turmoil since February 2021, when Myanmar's army ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government and then violently cracked down on widespread protests against its actions. After security forces unleashed lethal force on peaceful demonstrators, some opponents of military rule took up arms. Although the military government and its armed opponents have declared unilateral ceasefires for a temporary period to facilitate relief and rehabilitation efforts in the wake of the earthquake, continued fighting is widespread, according to independent Myanmar media and witnesses.