The death toll in the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria could reach as high as 10,000, experts have warned.
The grim figure came from the United States Geological Survey who are closely monitoring the humanitarian crisis.
The powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, razing buildings to the ground and trapping thousands beneath the rubble. .
Another massive shake with the magnitude of 7.5 hit Turkey’s south hours after the original quake.
People were left trapped and injured in several areas in the countries as it hit while they were sleeping. Tremors were felt as far as Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon and Egypt, prompting Italy to issue a tsunami alert for coastal populations.
The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has been confirmed at least 3,400.
Most of the damage is in southern Turkey and northern and central Syria and the death toll is expected to grow as casualty reports come in from individual provinces.
Multiple aftershocks have continued to be reported throughout the morning both in Syria and Turkey but also in Iraq and Lebanon, with hundreds of buildings damaged forcing residents to pour outside on a cold winter night.
“My grandson is 1 1/2 years old. Please help them, please. We can’t hear them or get any news from them since morning. Please, they were on the 12th floor,” Imran Bahur wept by her destroyed apartment building in the Turkish city of Adana.
Her daughter and family were still not found.
Tens of thousands who were left homeless in Turkey and Syria faced a night in the cold. In Turkey’s Gaziantep, a provincial capital about 20 miles from the epicentre, people took refuge in shopping malls, stadiums and community centers.
Mosques around the region were opened to provide shelter.
The quake, which was centred on Turkey’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, sent residents of Damascus and Beirut rushing into the street and was felt as far away as Cairo.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said such a disaster could hit “once in a hundred years.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said officials do not know how high the number of dead and injured will rise.
Syria has been devastated by more than 11 years of civil war, plus an economic and Covid-19 crisis. Many of the victims were living in squalid conditions and with little access to healthcare.
The epicentre of the first earthquake was near the city of Gaziantep, about 60 miles from the Syrian border.
Along with several cities, the area is home to home to millions of Syrian refugees who fled their country's long-running civil war. Turkey, which borders Syria to the north, hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world.
Thousands of people have fled Syrian dictator Assad's brutal bombardment and are now suffering through an enormous earthquake in the middle of winter.
