Turkey Earthquake: The Death Toll Approaches 5,000 People and 5,775 Buildings Destroyed

The impact of the earthquake in Turkey. (Wikimedia Commons/Mahmut Bozarslan/VOA)

JAKARTA - Rescue teams continue to try to save people trapped under rubble, as the death toll from devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria approached 5,000 on Tuesday, with growing despair and the scale of the disaster hampering relief efforts.

In the Turkish city of Antakya near the Syrian border, where a 10-storey building has collapsed to the street, rescue work is underway on one of the dozens of mounds of rubble. Temperatures are close to freezing as it rains and there is no electricity or fuel.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey and neighbouring Syria early Monday, knocking down thousands of buildings including many apartment blocks, destroying hospitals and leaving thousands injured or homeless.

In Turkey, the death toll rose to 3,381, said Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

The freezing winter weather hampered search efforts through the night. A woman's voice can be heard calling for help under a pile of rubble in Hatay Province, southern Turkey. Nearby, the body of a small child lay lifeless.

"They made noise but no one came", he said, according to Reuters on February 7.

In Kahramanmaras, north of Antakya, families gather around bonfires and wrap themselves in blankets to keep warm.

"We can barely leave the house", said Neset Guler, huddled with her four children.

"Our situation is disastrous. We are hungry, we are thirsty. It's sad", he said

Ankara declared an "Alarm Level 4" calling for international assistance, but not a state of emergency that would lead to mass military mobilization.

AFAD official Orhan Tatar said the number of injured was 20,426 with some 5,775 buildings destroyed by the quake, which was followed by 285 aftershocks.

Meanwhile, Turkey's disaster agency said 13,740 searches and rescue personnel were deployed. Meanwhile, more than 41,000 tents, 100,000 beds and 300,000 blankets have been sent to the region.

Monday's quake was Turkey's deadliest since a similar magnitude quake in 1999 killed more than 17,000 people.

In Syria, the effects of the quake were compounded by the devastation of more than 11 years of civil war, the death toll is said to be over 1,500, according to the Syrian government and rescue services in the rebel-held northwest.

In the rebel-held northwest, the death toll stood at more than 740, according to the Syrian civil defence, a rescue service known for excavating people from the rubble of government airstrikes.

The civil defence said hundreds of families were trapped under the rubble and time was running out to save them.

"Every second counts for saving lives and we call on all humanitarian organizations to provide material assistance and respond quickly to this disaster", said Raed al-Saleh, head of civil defence.

Meanwhile, the death toll in areas controlled by the Syrian government rose to 812, reported Syria's state news agency SANA.

Separately, a top UN humanitarian official in Syria said fuel shortages and bad weather were creating obstacles to its response.

"The infrastructure is damaged, the roads we used to use for humanitarian work are damaged, we have to be creative in reaching people... but we are working hard", UN resident coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told Reuters in an interview via video link from Damascus.