Rescue efforts to save those trapped under earthquake debris continue, as Türkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a disaster zone in the ten provinces struck, imposing a three-month state of emergency as the death toll passed 6,000.
Key points:
- Despite support arriving from across the world rescue crews are spread thin in quake-hit areas
- Some residents have been left to save friends and family, or retrieve the bodies, on their own
- More than 8,000 have been pulled from the debris in Türkiye alone
The declaration came as search teams and emergency aid from around the world arrived in Türkiye and Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures dig — sometimes with their bare hands — through the remains of buildings flattened by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
Monday's quake cut a swath of destruction that stretched hundreds of kilometres across south-eastern Türkiye and neighbouring Syria, toppling thousands of buildings and heaping more misery on a region shaped by Syria's 12-year civil war and refugee crisis.
Aftershocks then rattled tangled piles of metal and concrete, making the search efforts perilous.
The scale of the suffering — and the accompanying rescue effort — has been staggering.
More than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Türkiye alone, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels, said Türkish Vice-president Fuat Oktay.
They huddled in shopping malls, stadiums, mosques and community canters, while others spent the night outside in blankets gathering around fires.
Many took to social media to plead for assistance for loved ones believed to be trapped under the rubble — and Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying all calls were being "collected meticulously" and the information relayed to search teams.
'We could hear their voices'
However, with the damage spread over a wide area relief operations have struggled to reach devastated towns, while voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.
"We could hear their voices, they were calling for help," said Ali Silo, whose two relatives could not be saved in the Türkish town of Nurdagi.
In the end, it was left to Mr Silo and other residents to recover the bodies and those of two other victims.
Nurgul Atay told The Associated Press she could hear her mother's voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Antakya, the capital of Türkiye's Hatay province, but that her and others' efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any heavy equipment to help.
"If only we could lift the concrete slab we'd be able to reach her," she said.
"My mother is 70 years old, she won't be able to withstand this for long."
But in the north-western Syrian town of Jinderis, a young girl called Nour was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building.
A rescuer cradled her head in his hands and tenderly wiped dust from around her eyes as she lay amid crushed concrete and twisted metal before being pulled out and passed to another man.
UN trying to get aid to divided Syria
While the situation in Türkiye is bad in war-torn Syria there are fears it is worse.
Türkiye has large numbers of troops in the border region with Syria and has tasked the military to aid in the rescue efforts, including setting up tents for the homeless and a field hospital in Hatay province.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said it was "exploring all avenues" to get supplies to rebel-held north-western Syria, where millions live in extreme poverty and rely on humanitarian aid to survive.
The affected area in Syria is divided between government-controlled territory and the country's last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces.
The rebel-held enclave is packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the war. Many live in buildings that were already damaged by military bombardments.
The death toll in government-held areas of Syria climbed over 800, with some 1,400 injured, according to the Health Ministry.
The country's rebel-held north-west also saw at least 800 die, according to the White Helmets, the emergency organisation leading rescue operations, with more than 2,200 injured.
The region sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes. Some 18,000 were killed in similarly powerful earthquakes that hit north-west Türkiye in 1999.
AP