Death toll in Turkey-Syria exceeds 5,000

The death toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria reached 5,000. The death toll is expected to rise after strong earthquakes hit southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

At least 812 people were killed in areas controlled by Bashar al-Assad after two deadly earthquakes and successive aftershocks struck neighboring Turkey, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday (7 February). 1,449 people were injured in Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Tartus provinces.

Reuters reports that 790 people have died working in rebel-held areas of Syria. However, the death toll is expected to rise further.

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Turkish Vice President Fuat Uktai said that a total of 3,419 people died in their country in two days.

Turkish Disaster Management Agency official Orhan Tatar said on Tuesday that 23,400 personnel have joined the search and rescue operation. More than 7,800 people have been rescued in 10 provinces. And 5 thousand 775 buildings have been confirmed to collapse.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake hit the city of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, bordering Syria, at 4:17 a.m. local time on Monday. The earthquake was followed by at least 77 aftershocks, three of which were greater than 6 on the Richter scale. Another one had a magnitude of 7.5.