Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared seven days of national mourning, and Syria has appealed to the United Nations for help following devastating earthquakes that killed more than 4,300 people and toppled buildings across southeast Turkey and northern Syria.
\nRescuers in Turkey and Syria dug with their bare hands through the freezing night Tuesday hunting for survivors among the rubble of thousands of buildings felled in a series of violent earthquakes.
\nThe confirmed death toll across the two countries has soared above 4,300 after a swarm of strong tremors near the Turkey-Syria border \u2014 the largest of which measured at a massive 7.8-magnitude.
\nTurkish and Syrian disaster response teams report more than 5,600 buildings have been flattened across several cities, including many multi-storey apartment blocks that were filled with sleeping residents when the first quake struck.
\nTurkey’s relief agency AFAD on Tuesday said there were now 2,921 deaths in that country alone, bringing the confirmed tally to 4,365.
\nThere are fears that the toll will rise inexorably, with World Health Organisation (WHO) officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.
\nThe 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.
\nDozens of nations from Ukraine to New Zealand have vowed to send help, although freezing rain and sub-zero temperatures have slowed the response.
\nMonday’s first earthquake struck at 4:17 am (0117 GMT) at a depth of about 18 kilometres (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people, the US Geological Survey said.
\nMore than 14,000 people have so far been reported injured in Turkey, the disaster management agency said, while Syria said at least 3,411 people were injured.
\nOfficials said three major airports have been rendered inoperable, complicating deliveries of vital aid.
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