Turkey-Syria earthquake updates: Death toll climbs to over 41,000
The Feb. 6 quake was centered in Turkey's southeastern Kahramanmaras province.
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.
Latest headlines:
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.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
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.
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
Syria in need of more help: 'It’s like a drop in the ocean'
Members of the International Medical Corps dispatched to impacted areas of Syria have “started crying on the phone when I asked them what it was like,” Wafaa Sadek, country director for International Medical Corps in Syria, told ABC News.
“People everywhere on the streets. The weather is absolutely freezing. They don’t have anywhere to go. The children are screaming. Adults screaming,” Sadek said. “The situation is very, very bad.”
Sadek said her team told her of a little girl in Aleppo who was shouting, “Please, somebody get me out! I will serve you for the rest of my life, just get me out of here, please.”
Sadek said she wants to see more international help for Syria. She’s calling for sanctions to be lifted so more aid can get through.
“This is a humanitarian crisis,” Sadek said. “We should put our differences aside.”
Sadek stressed, “Syria is very much in need. The help which has come from all the over the world is much appreciated, but we really need a lot more. It’s like a drop in the ocean.”
-ABC News’ Zoe Magee
Death toll exceeds 17,000 in Turkey, Syria
Monday’s massive earthquake and powerful aftershocks have killed at least 14,014 people and injured more than 63,000 others in southeastern Turkey, according to the latest figures announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Meanwhile, at least 3,162 people were killed and over 5,600 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.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Over 600 aftershocks since Monday’s quake
Since a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey before dawn on Monday, there have been a total of at least 648 aftershocks in the region.
-ABC News’ Engin Bas