Turkey-Syria earthquake updates: Death toll climbs to over 41,000

The Feb. 6 quake was centered in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province.

ByMelissa Gaffney, Morgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: February 15, 2023, 8:35 AM EST

More than 41,000 people are dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria on Feb. 6, according to Turkish and Syrian officials.

The pre-dawn quake was centered in the town of Pazarcik in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province and was followed by several powerful aftershocks. Thousands of buildings were toppled on both sides of the border, and the death toll continued to rise as rescue workers searched for survivors in the massive piles of rubble.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook central Turkey early Monday and was followed by a strong aftershock.
Associated Press Staff/AP

Latest headlines:

Here's how the new is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 10, 2023, 2:27 PM EST

Death toll rises to over 23,000 in Turkey, Syria

Monday's massive earthquake and powerful aftershocks have claimed at least 23,270 lives.

In Turkey, at least 20,213 people were killed and more than 80,000 others were injured, according to officials.

An aerial photo showing the destruction in Hatay city center, southern Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023.
AP

Meanwhile, at least 3,507 people were killed and 7,115 others were injured in both government- and rebel-controlled areas of northwestern Syria, according to combined figures from the Syrian Ministry of Health and the Syrian civil defense and medical group that operates in opposition-held areas, known as the White Helmets.

PHOTO: Volunteers distribute aid to people in Antakya, southern Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023.
Volunteers distribute aid to people in Antakya, southern Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night into Wednesday, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings downed in Turkey and Syria by a catastrophic earthquake.
Khalil Hamra/AP

The Associated Press reported that the rising death toll in Turkey and Syria is now higher than the number of people who died as a result of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region, which caused the nuclear accident in Fukushima.

-ABC News Joe Simonetti

Feb 10, 2023, 11:20 AM EST

10-day-old baby boy rescued from rubble after 90 hours

A newborn baby boy was rescued from the rubble in Turkey Friday, nearly 90 hours after the quake hit.

The baby, named Yagiz Ulas, was just 10 days old when he was rescued, along with his mother, Reuters reported. After the baby was removed from the rubble of the building in Hatay province, he was wrapped in a thermal blanket and put in an ambulance, according to Reuters.

Ten-day-old baby Yagiz Ulas is examined by first responders in Hatay, Turkey on Feb. 9, 2023, after being rescued from the rubble 90 hours after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit parts of Turkey and Syria. The child's mother was also rescued.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Feb 09, 2023, 5:54 PM EST

121 Turkish citizens rescued in past 24 hours, official says

As the desperate search for survivors continues, 121 Turkish citizens have been pulled from the rubble alive in the past 24 hours, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Thursday.

The search and rescue operations in Kilis and Şanlıurfa provinces have been completed, and they are almost complete in Adana, Osmaniye and Diyarbakır provinces, Oktay said.

Israeli Defence Forces' members and a Turkish rescue team's members move a rescued 14-year-old girl from under the rubble, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2023.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

A woman is pulled from the rubble, Feb. 10, 2023, 108 hours after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces of Turkey including the Antakya district of Hatay, Turkey.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Feb 09, 2023, 3:55 PM EST

USAID announces $85 million for earthquake relief

The United States Agency for International Development is providing $85 million in “urgent humanitarian assistance" that will go toward shelter, "food, medicine and other desperately needed aid to those in need” in Turkey and Syria, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced Thursday on Twitter.

A boy and her mother are rescued by German and British rescue teams after an 8 hour operation in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2023.
Arnaud Andrieu/SIPA/Shutterstock

People sit around a fire near the site of a collapsed building in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023.
Suhaib Salem/Reuters

This comes as American responders are “leading the search for survivors” in Adiyaman, Turkey, said USAID spokesperson Jessica Jennings.

“Using sensitive cameras, listening devices, and search-and-rescue dogs, the team is able to target their search for survivors more accurately,” she said.

In Syria, Jennings said access to some of the hardest-hit areas remains “extremely challenging” due to damage to infrastructure, the security situation and weather concerns. However, she said that as of Thursday, one USAID partner was able to move six truckloads of supplies into the country.

-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford