Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency across 10 provinces as rescuers in Turkey and Syria struggled to find survivors on Tuesday with the death toll from both countries surpassing 7,800. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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04:38: France 24's Jasper Mortimer has the latest from Adana, Turkey.
04:35am: France 24's Shona Bhattacharyya reports on rescue operations in Antakya, Turkey.
04:15am: Cross border access to Syria still blocked
Shadi Alshhadeh, spokesperson for The Union Of Medical Care And Relief Organizations, explains why it is so difficult to get help to victims of earthquake in Syria.
03:04am: Chinese earthquake rescue team arrives in Turkey
An earthquake rescue team dispatched by China's government arrived in Turkey's Adana Airport early on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.
The team, comprised of 82 members, brought 20 tonnes of medical and other rescue supplies and equipment, as well as four search-and-rescue dogs, according to CCTV.
The team will cooperate with the local government, the embassy in Turkey, the United Nations and other agencies on missions, including setting up a temporary command, carrying out personnel search and rescue and providing medical aid, CCTV said.
02:35am: N.Korea's Kim Jong Un sends condolences to Syria for earthquake - Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent condolences to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that has killed over 7,800 people in Syria and Turkey, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the North's state media.
02:15am: At least 1,932 killed in Syria following deadly earthquakes
At least 1,932 people were killed and thousands injured in Syria following a number of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.
State news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people injured in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.
At least 1,120 people were killed in Syria's opposition-held northwest and 2,500 injured with the toll expected to "rise dramatically," rescuers in the region said.
11:54pm: Newborn, toddler saved from rubble in quake-hit Syrian town
Residents digging through a collapsed building in a northwest Syrian town discovered a crying infant whose mother appears to have given birth to her while buried underneath the rubble from this week's devastating earthquake, relatives and a doctor said Tuesday.
The newborn girl’s umbilical cord was still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was dead, they said. The baby was the only member of her family to survive from the building collapse Monday in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleiman, a relative, told The Associated Press.
11:05pm: Rescuers dig through rubble as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 7,800
The death toll of a devastating earthquake in southern Turkey and Syria jumped to more than 7,800 people on Tuesday as rescuers worked against time in harsh winter conditions to dig survivors out of the rubble of collapsed buildings.
As the scale of the disaster became ever more apparent, the death toll looked likely to rise considerably. One UN official said thousands of children may have died.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces. But residents in several damaged Turkish cities voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response from the authorities to the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey since 1999.
"There is not even a single person here. We are under the snow, without a home, without anything," said Murat Alinak, whose home in Malatya had collapsed and whose relatives are missing. "What shall I do, where can I go?"
Monday's magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks, injured tens of thousands, and left countless people homeless in Turkey and northern Syria.
10:02pm: Road from Turkey to opposition-controlled parts of Syria damaged, aid impacted
The sole border crossing used to shuttle life-saving aid from Turkey into conflict-ravaged Syria has seen its operations disrupted by the deadly earthquake that struck the two countries, according to the UN.
"The cross-border operation has itself been impacted," Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the Bab al-Hawa crossing itself is "actually intact".
"However, the road that is leading to the crossing has been damaged, and that's temporarily disrupted our ability to fully use it," Dujarric said.
Humanitarian aid in rebel-held areas usually arrives through Turkey via a cross-border mechanism created in 2014 by a UN Security Council resolution.
But it is contested by Damascus and its ally Moscow, who see it as a violation of Syrian sovereignty.
Under pressure from Russia and China, the number of crossing points has been reduced over time from four to one.
Now areas surrounding that one border crossing have suffered significant infrastructure damage, while the aid workers on the ground have been hit by the catastrophe.
9:16pm: Rescue teams try to find survivors in Turkey’s Adana
Reporting from the site of destroyed multistorey building in the southern Turkish city of Adana, FRANCE 24’s Jasper Mortimer says rescue teams are working gingerly with winches to cut concrete slabs and clear the debris.
“Every hour or so, they stop working and they tell everybody to shut-up. They then call down into the rubble, asking people to make a sound if they can hear them. Then after a few minutes, they resume work,” explained Mortimer.
9:01pm: US search and rescue teams set to arrive in Turkey on Wednesday
Two US Agency for International Development (USAID) teams are set to arrive Wednesday morning in Turkey and will head to the southeastern province of Adiyaman.
USAID's disaster assistance response team leader for the earthquake response, Stephen Allen, told reporters the teams will be about 80 people each and also bring 12 dogs and 170,000 pounds of specialised tools and equipment, including for triage and concrete breaking.
The US military aircraft carrying the teams and equipment were to land at Incirlik Air Base in the southern Turkish province of Adana and deploy immediately to hard-hit urban centers to save as many people as possible, Allen said.
8:46pm: Death toll rises to 7,300, WHO warns 23 million could be affected
The latest tolls show 5,434 people killed in Turkey and at least 1,872 in Syria, making a combined total of 7,306 fatalities.
There are fears that the toll will rise inexorably.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake and urged nations to rush help to the disaster zone.
6:56pm: Syrian FM asks Europe to send aid despite sanctions: Lebanese TV
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has asked European countries to send aid.
In an interview with the Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV, Mekdad said the sanctions are no excuse to avoid sending aid to quake-hit Syria.
Syrian officials have long argued that western sanctions have harmed reconstruction efforts in areas where the 12-year conflict has subsided. The US and European nations have said that sanctions aim to pressure the Syrian government into a political process that could end the conflict.
Al Mayadeen TV did not specify if the aid call was also for the opposition-held regions in Syria.
6:31pm: Death toll in Syria mounts to at least 1,832
The death toll in Syria has mounted to 1,832 people, according to Syrian authorities and rescuers.
Syrian state news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people injured in the government-held areas of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.
At least 1,020 people were killed in Syria's opposition-held northwest and 2,400 injured with the toll expected to "rise dramatically", the White Helmets rescue team said.
5:54pm: Fire at Turkey's Iskenderun Port extinguished: defence ministry
A fire that broke out at Turkey's southern Iskenderun Port as a result of the earthquakes has been extinguished, according to the Turkish defence ministry.
The fire was extinguished with the help of the military's helicopters and planes, it said.
Hundreds of shipping containers were ablaze at the Iskenderun Port earlier Tuesday, sending thick black smoke into the sky and shutting down operations, forcing freight liners to divert vessels to other ports.
5:16pm: In a first, Egypt's Sisi calls Syria's Assad to offer support
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Syria's Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday to offer condolences and support, their offices announced, in the first official exchange between the two leaders.
Ahmed Fahmy, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency, said Sisi "expressed his sincere condolences" in the wake of the earthquake.
"President Sisi reiterated Egypt's solidarity with Syria and its brotherly people in this calamity. He also directed that all possible aid be provided to Syria," Fahmy said.
Syrian state news agency SANA said "President Assad thanked Egypt for this position, which reflects the fraternal relations that bind the two brotherly countries."
While Egyptian state media noted the presidents' call was their first since Sisi assumed office in 2014, the two countries have maintained relations during Syria's 12-year war, unlike some other Arab countries who severed ties with Damascus.
Egypt's official position on Syria has called for "a political solution", steering clear of discussing the fate of Assad himself, whose departure has long been demanded by several Arab leaders.
4:47pm: Ukraine sends 87 rescuers to Turkey
War-ravaged Ukraine is sending an 87-strong search and rescue team to Turkey to “help eliminate the consequences” of the earthquake.
The announcement came in a decree published on the Ukrainian Cabinet's official website.
Earlier today, President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a separate decree instructing his Cabinet to “ensure the provision of humanitarian aid to Turkey”.
4:30pm: 'Relief workers have finally begun arriving'
“Relief workers have finally begun arriving in Antakya, more than 24 hours after a double earthquake hit the region. The city is one of the most damaged, with dozens upon dozens of buildings, homes, businesses lying in a pile of rubble, or tilting dangerously to one side.”
FRANCE 24’s Shona Bhattacharyya reports.
3:56pm: Death toll in Syria mounts to 1,712
The death toll in Syria has mounted to 1,712, according to Syrian authorities and rescuers.
Syrian state news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people injured in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.
In the opposition-held northwest of Syria, at least 900 people were killed and 2,300 injured with the toll expected to "rise dramatically," said the White Helmets rescue team.
3:12pm: Two massive earthquakes in one of the world’s most seismically active regions
The region where the two earthquakes – and several aftershocks – struck on Monday has a convergence of two fault zones: the North Anatolian Fault and the East Anatolian Fault.
The two earthquakes happened on the East Anatolian Fault, which runs through eastern Turkey close to the border with Syria.
2:35pm: Shipping containers ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port, operations halted
Hundreds of shipping containers were ablaze at Turkey's Iskenderun Port, sending thick black smoke into the sky and shutting down operations, forcing freight liners to divert vessels to other ports.
Turkey's maritime authority said on Monday that the port, located on the Mediterranean coast in the southern province of Hatay, was damaged due to the earthquake.
Turkish shipping agency Tribeca said some cargo areas of Limak port at the Iskenderun complex were still on fire and the terminal was closed to all operations until further notice.
Container shipping firm AP Moller Maersk said all operations at the port have been halted until further notice.
2:25pm: Rescue work in Antakya, Turkey, is ‘a nightmare’
Reporting from Antakya, a city in Turkey’s southern Hatay province, FRANCE 24’s Shona Bhattacharyya said the rescue work is “a nightmare” with the collapse of “dozens upon dozens upon dozens of buildings – residential buildings, commercial centers and petrol stations”.
1:02pm: Erdogan declares state of emergency in 10 quake-hit provinces
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Tuesday a three-month state of emergency in 10 southeastern provinces hit by the earthquake.
"We have decided to declare a state of emergency to ensure that our (rescue and recovery) work can be carried out quickly," Erdogan said in televised remarks.
12:36pm: Germany says Russia must pressure Syria into ensuring quake aid arrives
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday called on Russia to help pressure Syria into allowing humanitarian aid into the country for victims of Monday's deadly earthquakes quickly and without additional obstacles.
"All international actors, including Russia, should exert their pressure on the Syrian regime to ensure humanitarian help for victims can arrive," said Baerbock during a news conference in Berlin with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsojan.
"It's important that weapons are now set aside and all efforts in the region are focused on humanitarian aid and on recovering and protecting victims," said Baerbock, adding that every minute counted.
12:07pm: Hundreds still under earthquake rubble in rebel-held Syria
Time is running out to save hundreds of families trapped under the rubble of buildings brought down by Monday's earthquake, the head of the Syrian opposition-run civil defence service said on Tuesday.
Raed al-Saleh told Reuters urgent help was needed from international groups for the rescue effort by the organisation known as the White Helmets in rebel-held northwest Syria, where hundreds were killed and injured.
"Every second means saving lives and we call on all humanitarian organisations to give material aid and respond to this catastrophe urgently," he said.
11:56am: Germany plans additional €1 million in aid to NGO for Syria quake victims
Germany will provide an additional million euros to the Malteser International aid group and is working to make more financial aid available to other humanitarian partners helping quake victims in Syria, said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsojan, Baerbock added that Germany is also pushing for humanitarian access to Syria.
11:50am: UNICEF says Turkey-Syria earthquake may have killed thousands of children
The United Nations children's agency said on Tuesday that the earthquake and aftershocks that destroyed scores of buildings in Turkey and Syria may have killed thousands of children.
"The earthquakes that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early yesterday morning may have killed thousands of children," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
He added the organisation could not determine a specific death toll of children.
10:05am: Turkey death toll reaches 3,419
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed to 5,102, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border.
9:28am: WHO chief worried about silent areas of Turkey, Syria after quake
The head of the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday the WHO was especially concerned about areas of Turkey and Syria from which no information had emerged following a major earthquake that killed thousands.
"We're especially concerned about areas where we do not yet have information," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO's executive board meeting in Geneva. "Damage mapping is one way to understand where we need to focus our attention."
9:28am: Turkey detains four over quake social media posts
Turkish police on Tuesday said they had detained four people over "provocative" social media posts following the earthquake.
The quake struck the region early on Monday, killing more than 4,800 people in Turkey and Syria, injuring thousands and leaving many more without shelter in the bitter cold.
The four individuals were detained after officers found accounts that shared "provocative posts aiming to create fear and panic", the police said.
9:14am: Syria death toll reaches 1,602
At least 1,602 people were killed and thousands injured in Syria following a number of deadly earthquakes and aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, authorities and rescuers said on Tuesday.
State news agency SANA said at least 812 people were killed and 1,449 people injured in the government-held provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.
At least 790 people were killed in Syria's opposition-held northwest and 2,200 injured with the toll expected to "rise dramatically," the White Helmets rescue team said.
9:10am: Ex-Newcastle winger Atsu pulled alive from earthquake rubble
Ghana international winger Christian Atsu has been found alive after being buried under rubble by the earthquake, the vice president of his club Hatayspor told media on Tuesday. He had been reported missing in Turkey's Hatay province.
"Christian Atsu was pulled out injured. Our sporting director, Taner Savut, is unfortunately still under the rubble," club vice president Mustafa Ozak told Radyo Gol.
Atsu, 31, played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and Everton, on loan from Chelsea, and joined Hatayspor in September. He was last selected to play for Ghana in 2019, but has not officially retired from international football.
8:43am: New earthquake of magnitude 5.7 strikes eastern Turkey region
An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 struck eastern Turkey on Tuesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
The quake was at a depth of 46 km (28.58 miles), the centre added.
8:40am: Southern Turkey's Adana becomes 'hub for rescue teams'
In the southern Turkish city of Adana, about 200 kilometres from the earthquake's epicentre, "about 10 buildings have collapsed, all of them high-rises, so there are victims here. There are rescue teams here, but it is stable enough and secure enough for the city to have become a hub for rescue teams arriving not only from all around Turkey but also internationally," FRANCE 24's Shona Bhattacharyya reports.
8:36am: Death toll rises to 812 in Syrian government-held areas
At least 812 people were killed in government-held areas in Syria following the two deadly earthquakes and a series of aftershocks in neighbouring Turkey, state news agency SANA said on Tuesday.
SANA said at least 1,449 people were injured in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartous.
8:36am: Turkey port fire rages following quake
A large fire that broke out at a section of a port in an earthquake-stricken city in southeast Turkey is raging for a second day.
Television images Tuesday showed thick black smoke rising from burning containers at Iskenderun Port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the city of Iskenderun. Reports said the fire was caused by containers that toppled over during the powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey on Monday.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said a Turkish Coast Guard vessel was assisting efforts to extinguish the fire.
8:07am: US sends firefighters, engineers, dogs
The US is coordinating immediate assistance to Turkey, including teams to support search and rescue efforts. In California, nearly 100 Los Angeles County firefighters and structural engineers, along with six specially trained dogs, were being sent to Turkey.
8:03am: Turkey's historic antagonist Greece comes to its aid
Neighbour and historic rival Greece is sending Turkey a team of 21 rescuers, two rescue dogs and a special rescue vehicle, together with a structural engineer, five doctors and seismic planning experts in a military transport plane.
7:58am: Earthquake toll for Turkey rises to 3,381 dead, official says
The death toll in Turkey after a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake rose to 3,381, the country's relief agency AFAD told AFP on Tuesday.
The new count brings the confirmed death toll in Turkey and neighbouring Syria to 4,890, after the strongest quake to hit the region in nearly a century
7:19am: At least 20 escape Syria prison holding IS inmates after quake
Prisoners mutinied in a northwestern Syria prison Monday following the earthquake, with at least 20 escaping the jail holding mostly Islamic State group members, a source at the facility told AFP.
The military police prison in the town of Rajo near the Turkish border holds about 2,000 inmates, with about 1,300 of them suspected to be IS group fighters, said the source. The prison also holds fighters from Kurdish-led forces.
>> Prisoners mutiny, escape after quake hits Syria jail holding IS group members
"After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison," said the official at Rajo jail, which is controlled by pro-Turkish factions. "About 20 prisoners fled [...] who are believed to be IS militants."
4:08am: Death toll from Turkey, Syria earthquakes surpasses 4,000
Turkey's relief agency AFAD on Tuesday said there were now 2,921 deaths caused by the earthquake in that country alone, bringing the confirmed tally to 4,365. There are fears that toll will rise inexorably, with World Health Organisation officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.
In Gaziantep, a Turkish city home to countless refugees from Syria's decade-old civil war, rescuers picking through the rubble screamed, cried and clamoured for safety as another building collapsed nearby without warning. The initial earthquake was so large it was felt as far away as Greenland, and the impact is big enough to have sparked a global response.
In the city of Kahramanmaras in southeastern Turkey, eyewitnesses struggled to comprehend the scale of the disaster.
"We thought it was the apocalypse," said Melisa Salman, a 23-year-old reporter. "That was the first time we have ever experienced anything like that."
2:56am: Nearly 8,000 people rescued
More than 7,800 people were rescued across 10 provinces, according to Orhan Tatar, an official with Turkey’s disaster management authority.
Strained medical centers quickly filled with injured people, rescue workers said. Some facilities had to be emptied, including a maternity hospital, according to the SAMS medical organisation.
The earthquake piled more misery on a region that has seen tremendous suffering over the past decade. On the Syrian side, the area is divided between government-controlled territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from the civil war.
In the rebel-held enclave, hundreds of families remained trapped in rubble, the opposition emergency organisation known as the White Helmets said in a statement. The area is packed with some 4 million people displaced from other parts of the country by the war. Many live in buildings that are already wrecked from military bombardments.
Offers of help – from search-and-rescue teams to medical supplies and money – poured in from dozens of countries, as well as the European Union and NATO. The vast majority were for Turkey, with a Russian and even an Israeli promise of help to the Syrian government, but it was not clear if any would go to the devastated rebel-held pocket in the northwest.
Bitterly cold temperatures could reduce the time frame that rescuers have to save trapped survivors, Steven Godby, an expert in natural hazards at Nottingham Trent University, told AP. The difficulty of working in areas beset by civil war would further complicate rescue efforts, he noted.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
