A powerful magnitude-7.8 earthquake has rocked wide swathes of Türkiye and neighbouring Syria, killing more than 3,700 people and injuring thousands more, while toppling thousands of buildings and trapping residents under mounds of rubble.
Key points:
- The World Health Organization expects to see a jump in deaths following the deadly earthquake
- In Türkiye, people took refuge in shopping centres, stadiums and community centres
- Syria has endured nearly 12 years of civil war which has devastated much of the country
The World Health Organization (WHO) expects a significant jump in the death toll as rescuers search through tangles of metal and concrete for survivors in a region beset by Syria's 12-year civil war and a refugee crisis.
WARNING: This story contains content that may be upsetting for some readers
"There's continued potential of further collapses to happen, so we do often see in the order of eight-fold increases on the initial numbers," the WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, told AFP.
"We always see the same thing with earthquakes, unfortunately, which is that the initial reports of the numbers of people who have died or who have been injured will increase quite significantly in the week that follows," Ms Smallwood said.
The earthquake, which rattled southern Türkiye early on Monday, was the worst to hit the country this century.
It was followed hours later by magnitude-7.5 tremor.
Area affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake
"I think we can expect the death toll to increase significantly," Rick Brennan, the WHO's regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told Reuters.
"There's been a lot of building collapses and it will increase more significantly around the epicentre of the earthquake."
Mr Brennan said the WHO was boosting its staff in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, the epicentre of the earthquake, and exploring its options to send emergency medical teams to the area; however, rescue efforts were being hampered by aftershocks from the initial quake.
"It's harder for the rescue teams to get in there to extract people," he said.
Survivors have taken refuge in shopping malls, stadiums and community centres. (Reuters: Umit Bektas)
Residents jolted out of sleep by the pre-dawn quake rushed outside in the rain and snow to escape falling debris, while those who were trapped inside cried for help.
Imran Bahur, whose daughter and family had not been found, wept by her destroyed apartment building in the Turkish city of Adana.
"My grandson is one and a half years old. Please help them, please," she said.
"We can't hear them or get any news from them since morning. Please, they were on the 12th floor."
Tens of thousands who were left homeless in Türkiye and Syria faced a night in the cold.
To read more, click on the following link