Before the huge earthquakes struck, four million people in a rebel-held enclave of Syria were already relocated, and many live in structures destroyed by military shelling.
Turkey has seen more severe tremors, which are among the 285 aftershocks registered since a huge earthquake killed thousands and injured many more.
At 7:10 a.m., the US Geological Survey reported a 5.4 earthquake in the east. (UK time) today. Just thirty minutes prior, a magnitude 4.5 aftershock was registered.
Since midnight, there have been at least 14 major earthquakes and approximately 285 aftershocks in the region.
At least 7,300 people have died in Turkey and Syria, and the WHO expects that number to rise to 20,000.
The first 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred before sunrise on Monday, when most people would have been asleep.
Rescuers spent the night searching the rubble for lives, but bitterly cold weather may limit their time.
Crews from around the world are heading to the epicentre to rescue more than 7,800 people from 10 Turkish regions.
Turkey’s crisis management agency
Countries from around the world have despatched rescue teams, and Turkey’s crisis management agency reports that over 24,400 emergency workers are currently on the ground.
Due to the earthquake’s wide impact and nearly 6,000 collapsed structures in Turkey, their efforts are scattered.
After a decade of shelling and bombs, the Syrian earthquake and aftershocks devastated building foundations.
The most recent statistics indicate that more than 13,000 people have been injured throughout Turkey. In the city of Iskenderun, where an intensive care unit had existed, there was a massive pile of wreckage.
“We don’t know what happened to a patient who was brought into surgery,” said Tulin, a woman in her 30s who was standing outside the hospital and wiping her eyes with a tissue.
Adelheid Marschang, WHO Senior Emergency Officer, stated that Turkey has a significant capacity to respond to the crisis, but that Syria, which has been dealing with a decades-long humanitarian crisis owing to civil war and a cholera outbreak, would have the most immediate and intermediate requirements.
“This is a crisis atop numerous crises in the afflicted region,” she stated at the Geneva board meeting of the organization.
Syria’s needs are at an all-time high after nearly 12 years of a complex conflict, but humanitarian aid keeps falling.
She estimated that around 23 million people, including approximately 1.4 million children, would be exposed in both countries as a result of the earthquake and its aftershocks.
Thousands of nightly homeless seek refuge in mosques, stadiums, and shopping centers.
Across Turkey and Syria, tens of thousands of people are homeless and spent last night in the cold.
People took refuge in shopping malls, mosques, stadiums, and community centers approximately 30 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake in Gaziantep.
According to Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay, approximately 380,000 survivors are being housed in government dormitories or hotels.
Before the huge earthquakes struck, four million people in a rebel-held enclave of Syria were already relocated. And many live in structures destroyed by military shelling.
In Aleppo, a mountain of concrete and steel roads loomed where a multi-story building formerly stood. And a slender young man expressed concern that 12 families might be trapped.
The rebel-held Syrian White Helmets said they were in a “fight against time” to save everyone under the wreckage.
The apartment building of Imran Bahur in the Turkish city of Adana was also demolished. She reported that her 18-month-old grandson was trapped on the 12th level and begged for assistance in rescuing him.
Search teams in another Turkish city, Diyarbakir, occasionally raised their hands and requested silence while searching for signs of life.
Syria seeks assistance
Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bassam Sabbagh, has asked for assistance, obtaining assurances from member states that they will do everything necessary in this “very difficult situation.”
He added that the government will help “all Syrians in all Syrian territory.”
However, harsh winter weather, road damage, and fuel shortages have hindered the United Nations’ response to the earthquake.
El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the local coordinator for the United Nations, told Reuters, “The infrastructure is devastated, the highways we utilized for humanitarian operations are damaged, and we must be resourceful to reach the people, but we are working hard.”
Erdogan declares seven national days of mourning.
The Turkish president has spoken with his American counterpart, Joe Biden.
The president also declared the ten earthquake-stricken cities a “disaster zone” and declared a three-month state of emergency.
According to the White House, Vice President Biden emphasized “the willingness of the United States to provide whatever help required” to NATO ally Turkey.
Washington has sent two 79-person urban search and rescue teams and is discussing health services.
Rescue workers from the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Germany are also en route to the epicenter.
