The death toll in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria neared 20,000 on Thursday as many survivors remained displaced and grappling with harsh winter conditions.
Those who couldn’t find shelter in tents or other designated areas have been forced to sleep outdoors since Monday morning’s massive quake, which toppled thousands of buildings in southeast Turkey and northern Syria.
“Especially in this cold, it is not possible to live here,” said Ahmet Tokgoz, a survivor in Antakya, Turkey. “People are warming up around campfires, but campfires can only warm you up so much. … If people haven’t died from being stuck under the rubble, they’ll die from the cold.”
More than 16,100 of the deaths occurred in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday. He said another 64,000 people were injured in his country. More than 3,100 causalities were reported in Syria.
![Iranian (red) and Armenian (orange) rescuers sift through the rubble of a collapsed building in the northern city of Aleppo, searching for victims and survivors days after a deadly earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, on February 9, 2023.](https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/zcaSZReNt_hqNfxZkoNM9dQGzNg=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/2N3UDFKXONHQVKVCNJYWRHKUIY.jpg)
Erdogan, who is visiting badly hit areas, has drawn criticism for what some claimed to be a slow emergency response. On Wednesday, the president admitted there were issues with the initial response but pushed back on the criticism and said efforts had improved.
“It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster,” Erdogan said after touring Hatay. “We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.”
Rescue efforts have been complicated by the winter conditions and damaged roads. A 7.5 magnitude aftershock struck several hours after the first quake, about 60 miles away.ExpandAutoplay
Image1 of 49
Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings in Golbasi, in Adiyaman province, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Thinly stretched rescue teams worked through the night in Turkey and Syria, pulling more bodies from the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The death toll rose Wednesday to more than 10,000, making the quake the deadliest in more than a decade. (Emrah Gurel/AP)
Responders continued Thursday to look for survivors beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings. Other officials turned their focus to bringing down buildings at risk of collapsing.
“It’s now a race against time,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday. “Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes.
“Continued aftershocks, severe winter conditions, damage to roads, power supplies, communications and other infrastructure continue to hamper access and other search and rescue efforts.”