Rescuers in Hatay worked against time in harsh winter conditions on Tuesday evening, trying to dig people out of the rubble of collapsed buildings as the death toll of Turkey and Syria’s devastating earthquake jumped to more than 7 800.
Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 km from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and 300 km from Malatya in the north to Hatay in the south.
Syrian authorities have reported deaths as far south as Hama, some 250 km from the epicenter.
Monday’s magnitude 7.8 quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks, injured tens of thousands, and left countless people homeless in Turkey and northern Syria.
Rescue workers struggled to reach some of the worst-hit areas, held back by destroyed roads, poor weather and a lack of resources and heavy equipment. Some areas were without fuel and electricity.
![[File image] Water being poured into a container.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Water-Reuters-120x86.png)
