Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday that he has ordered the Self-Defense Forces to end its disaster relief operations in Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country that was struck by a powerful earthquake in March.

The number of patients linked to the earthquake is now substantially lower than before, Nakatani said at a news conference.

An SDF C-130 transport aircraft delivered 2.5 tons of emergency supplies to a Japanese medical team in Myanmar after arriving in an airport in Mandalay on April 9. The plane has since stayed in the country to collect information.