Turkey — Overwhelmed rescuers raced to free those buried beneath debris as the dead toll from a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria surpassed 36,000 on Tuesday, with despair increasing and relief operations hampered by the scope of the tragedy.
The magnitude 7.8 quake struck early Monday, collapsing hundreds of structures, including several apartment towers, destroying hospitals, and leaving thousands injured or homeless in Turkish and Syrian towns.
Reuters journalists saw rescue efforts on one of dozens of heaps of wreckage in the Turkish city of Antakya, close the Syrian border, where 10-story buildings had collapsed onto the streets.
As the rain fell, the temperature dropped close to freezing, and there was no electricity or gasoline in the city.
According to Turkish officials, 13.5 million people were impacted in a region covering around 450 kilometers from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 300 kilometers from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the south. Authorities in Syria have confirmed casualties as far south as Hama, around 100 kilometers from the epicenter.
According to Vice President Fuat Oktay, the death toll in Turkey has risen to 36,000 persons, with harsh weather making it impossible to provide help to the affected areas.
According to the government and a rescue organization in Syria's insurgent-held northwest, the death toll is slightly over 1,600, with the quake causing additional damage to infrastructure already destroyed by 11 years of conflict.
Throughout the night, freezing temperatures impeded search operations. Under a mound of rubble in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, a woman's voice was heard pleading for rescue. A tiny child's corpse lay motionless nearby.Families slept in parked automobiles on the streets.
Ayla, who was standing among the ruins of an eight-story building, claimed she had driven to Hatay from Gaziantep on Monday in search of her mother. The Istanbul fire brigade had five or six rescuers working in the ruins—a sandwich of concrete and glass.
Ankara raised a "level 4 alarm," requesting international aid but not declaring a state of emergency, which would necessitate broad military mobilization.
According to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the quake damaged 5,775 structures and wounded 20,426 people. It was followed by 285 aftershocks.
