More than 1,200 people have died after an 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.
According to the country's president, Recep Erdogan says 912 people were killed in Turkey alone while 5,383 have been confirmed injured so far. Over 320 people have been killed in Syria and rescue workers are continuing to search through rubble in cities and towns across affected areas.
On both sides of the border, residents awoke just before dawn as the quake began flattening buildings and causing major aftershocks. Buildings were devastated in the Turkish city of Adana, while further east in Diyarbakir, cranes and rescue teams rushed people on stretchers out of a mountain of destroyed concrete that used to be an apartment building.
Meanwhile, on the Syrian side of the border, regions filled with some four million people who were displaced by the long civil war have been affected. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that “search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched” to the areas hit by the quake.
“We hope that we will get through this disaster together as soon as possible and with the least damage,” he wrote. Dr Muheeb Qaddour said from the town of Atmeh: “We fear that the deaths are in the hundreds.”
The US Geological Survey said the quake was centred about 20 miles from Gaziantep, 11 miles deep. In Gaziantep, the city's most famous landmark - a historic castle perched atop a hill - was heavily damaged. In Turkey, people attempting to leave the quake-stricken regions has caused traffic jams, affecting the ability of rescue teams.
Mosques around the region were being opened up as a shelter for people unable to return to their damaged homes while temperates begin to dip to freezing.
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