February 11, 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake news

It's been five days since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, and teams are approaching the end of the search and rescue window, a UN liaison officer has warned.

Speaking from Adana, southern Turkey, on Saturday, Belit Tasdemir, UN liaison officer at AKUT Search and Rescue Association, told CNN: "The sheer level of, and how widespread the devastation is, is completely unprecedented in terms of what we've seen before in Turkey."

Describing the recue efforts as "mammoth," Tasdemir said the teams are working across a vast area and in "below freezing" temperatures.

He added that rescue teams, who have been on the ground for several days, are starting to become affected by the cold temperatures and "extreme fatigue."

Five days after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria the number of dead is staggering.

Drone footage and satellite imagery have conveyed the stark reality of widespread destruction in an area that straddles two very different nations.

The scale of the disaster is enormous. “We’ve done a bit of mapping of the size of the affected area,” said Caroline Holt, director of disasters, climate and crises at the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). “It’s the size of France.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday that “we haven’t yet seen the full extent of the damage and of the humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes,” while estimates from the World Health Organization suggest up to 23 million people could be impacted by the natural disaster.

Once search efforts have ended, attention will turn to longer-term reconstruction. Turkey has suffered earthquakes in the past, and has rebuilt. But how much can be learned from this history and will these lessons be implemented? And will the same efforts be matched across the border?

Read the full report.

The number of people killed following Monday's devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has reached at least 24,178, according to authorities.

In Turkey, the death toll has risen to at least 20,665, according to the country's disaster and emergency management presidency SAKOM.

In Syria, the total number or dead stands at 3,513, including 2,166 in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country, according to the ‘White Helmets’ civil defense – and 1,347 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media.

The number of people killed following Monday's devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has reached at least 23,831, according to authorities.

In Turkey, the death toll rose to 20,318 with 80,052 reported injured the country's disaster agency said Friday.

In Syria, the total number or dead stands at 3,513, including 2,166 in rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country, according to the ‘White Helmets’ civil defense – and 1,347 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media.

The volunteer organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, announced the end of its search and rescue operations for survivors in rebel-controlled areas in the north and northwest following the earthquakes that hit the country and Turkey on Monday.

The group said it believes no one trapped under the rubble is still alive after 108 hours of searching.

However, it is now searching for the bodies of those under collapsed buildings.

According to the statement, many women and children were among the dead people in the most affected areas, including in the towns of Jindires and Haram in north Syria.

A 16-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble of a destroyed building in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras 119 hours after the devastating earthquake hit the country and Syria.

In dramatic scenes shown live on CNN affiliate, CNN Turk, Kamil Can was brought to the surface with a smile on his face. He appeared to be in OK condition. 

Rescuers said they had been prompted to search the location after hearing his voice come from below the wreckage.

Kamil was taken away on a stretcher, looking alert, to waiting relatives who could be seen kissing him with joy.

While Turkey is no stranger to strong earthquakes, Monday's disaster is the deadliest to strike the country in more than 80 years.

Here's what we know:

More than 5 million people in Syria may have been left homeless following the earthquake that struck the country and Turkey on Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.

"UNHCR is focusing very much on shelter and relief items, ensuring that collective centers that displaced have gone to have adequate facilities, as well as tents, plastic sheeting, thermal blankets, sleeping mats, winter clothing and so on," said Sivanka Dhanapala, a UNHCR representative in Syria.

The United Nations agency said 6.8 million people were already displaced internally within the country since the start of the civil war that ripped through Syria in 2011.

"All this, of course, impacts the access for aid," Dhanapala said. "Roads have been damaged and that hampers us trying to reach people. It's been very, very difficult." 

Based on "a preliminary estimate," the refugee organization said "5.37 million people affected by the quake will need shelter assistance in the whole of Syria."

"That is a huge number and comes to a population already suffering mass displacement," according to Dhanapala.

The United States is “ramping up” assistance to Turkey and Syria following the catastrophic earthquake that struck on Monday, the White House told reporters Friday. 

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has already deployed a disaster assistance and response team to Turkey.

Two additional urban search and rescue teams are also “conducting operations in support of Turkish rescue efforts” in the hardest-hit areas of Turkey, for a sum-total of 200 personnel, assisted with specialized equipment and canine support dogs, according to Kirby. He said the US is deploying assistance teams via Blackhawk helicopters from Incirlik Air Force Base in southern Turkey.

On Thursday, USAID announced $85 million in funding for the region to provide “emergency food and shelter for refugees and newly displaced people, winter supplies to help families brave the cold, critical health care services to provide trauma support, safe drinking water to prevent disease, and hygiene and sanitation assistance to keep people safe and healthy.”

In Syria, Kirby said, humanitarian partners are “urgently scaling up response efforts,” including the launch of charter flights carrying medical supplies, the distribution of hot meals and the deployment of 20 truckloads of medicine and food into the country, as a way to "underscore that US sanctions will not prevent or inhibit prohibiting humanitarian assistance in Syria.” 

He pointed to a license from the US Treasury that provides additional authorizations for humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.