Death toll from quake in Turkey and Syria tops 4,000

Authorities fear the death toll from Monday’s predawn magnitude 7.8 temblor, followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake and several aftershocks will continue to climb as rescuers looked for survivors among tangles of metal and concrete spread across a region already suffering under Syria’s 12-year war and a refugee crisis.

Rescuers searched through the frigid night into Tuesday morning, hoping to dig more survivors out of the rubble as those trapped cried out for help from beneath mountains of debris.

Yunus Sezer, the head of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), gave the number of dead in Turkey at 2,921, while 15,834 others were injured.

In Syria, at least 1,300 people were killed, according to the Ministry of Health and the White Helmets rescue organisation on Monday evening.

Freezing winter weather conditions and snowfall in the devastated region have added to the plight of many thousands of people left injured and homeless by the earthquake. Downed buildings and destroyed roads have hampered efforts to find survivors and get crucial aid into affected areas.

Ten cities in southern Turkey have been declared disaster areas, according to reports. Freezing temperatures and snow have hampered rescue efforts, and more bad weather is expected to hit the region. Electricity supplies and natural gas have been cut off in many areas and the government is working to restore both services.

Over 7,800 people have been rescued across 10 provinces, according to Orhan Tatar, an official with Turkey’s disaster management authority. Strained medical facilities have quickly filled with injured people, rescue workers stated.

The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria and southern Turkey, announced in a statement that its facilities were “overwhelmed with patients filling the hallways” and called urgently for “trauma supplies and a comprehensive emergency response to save lives and treat the injured”.

Governments and aid agencies have rushed to deploy personnel, funds and equipment to Turkey and Syria.