Turkey-Syria earthquake updates: Death toll surpasses 40,000

More than seven million children have been affected by the massive earthquake and a major aftershock that devastated Turkey and Syria last week, the United Nations has said, voicing fear that “many thousands” more had died.

“In Turkey, the total number of children living in the 10 provinces hit by the two earthquakes was 4.6 million children. In Syria, 2.5 million children are affected,” James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva.

“UNICEF fears many thousands of children have been killed,” Elder said, warning that “even without verified numbers, it is tragically clear that numbers will continue grow.”

Hours after two huge earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks struck southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 6, much-needed rescuers began to arrive in Turkey, including K9 teams from around the world that had come to lend a hand.

A K9 (a homophone of canine) team includes a dog, or dogs, specially trained to assist security forces and emergency teams – in rescues, drug enforcement or other operations. These dogs came from, among other countries, El Salvador, Germany, Mexico, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said enforcement of stricter building regulations was needed in the country after a powerful earthquake that rocked southern Turkey last week, killing tens of thousands people.

Erdogan said “collapsed buildings reminded the government of the need for stricter construction rules” in a televised speech, adding that his government would continue work until the last person was rescued from the ruins in the quake-hit area.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the death toll in Turkey due to last week’s earthquake has increased to 35,418.

The United Kingdom’s King Charles has met volunteers from the Turkish and Syrian diasporas in London to express his support after more than 37,000 people died and thousands were left homeless by the recent earthquake in Turkey and northwestern Syria.

Charles shook hands with charity workers during a visit to West London Turkish Volunteers (WLTV), and chatted with them as they packed scarves, blankets, jumpers, and packets of biscuits as part of earthquake relief efforts.

He also formally launched Syria’s House, a temporary Syrian community tent in Trafalgar Square in central London, where he met the capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, among others.

Abdulkafi Alhamdo, an activist and a resident of Idlib, says rescue workers are still continuing to search for survivors under the rubble, even as “the chances of getting to people alive are almost zero”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Idlib, he sounded the alarm on the immense humanitarian emergency faced by survivors in northwestern Syria, a region, he said, was “already devastated before the earthquake”.

“The people who have survived this catastrophe have lost everything,” he said, adding that the United Nations has been “very late” in responding to the people’s needs.

“They need tents, carpets, blankets, food, medical treatment,” added Alhmado, noting also that psychological support was needed to deal with the mental trauma.

Nearly nine million people in Syria were affected by last week’s devastating earthquake, the United Nations has said in a statement.

A Ukrainian rescue team has pulled a woman alive from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish province of Hatay, some 205 hours since the first earthquake, CNN Turk reported.

This takes the number of survivors rescued on Tuesday to seven.

The UN has launched an appeal for $397.6m to help victims in Syria.

A statement said the money was needed “to respond to the most pressing humanitarian needs over the next three months”.

Antonio Guterres, the world body’s chief, said a similar appeal for Turkey was in the “final stages”.

Ten International Organization for Migration trucks carrying humanitarian assistance have passed through the Bab al-Salam crossing into northwestern Syria from Turkey, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has told Al Jazeera.

The passage marked the first time a UN convoy has used the crossing to deliver aid since its closure in 2020. An 11th truck is expected to pass through the crossing shortly.

Another 26 inter-agency trucks went through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, until now the only entry point for UN humanitarian aid to directly reach people in opposition-held northwestern Syria.

Damages from deadly earthquakes in Turkey will probably exceed $20bn, according to the risk modelling company Verisk.

Only a fraction of the damages – likely more than $1bn – is covered by insurance, Verisk said.

Earthquakes are relatively common in Turkey, and despite regulations to build to protect against earthquakes, results have been “mixed”, Verisk said.

Structures compliant with building codes “have performed relatively well, while many others have experienced significant damage and collapse during earthquakes”, it said.

Kerem Kinik, president of the Turkish Red Crescent, told Al Jazeera the relief efforts would continue for a minimum of 18 months.

Kinik said that international assistance would be needed in what he described as a marathon operation.

In the short term, Kinik said there continued to be a shortage of shelter and tents and warned of the risk of the spread of infectious diseases amid the challenging conditions.

Antakya, Turkey – At a military-run tent site in Turkey’s Antakya, authorities have separated Turks and Syrians for what they say are security purposes.

Hassan Jadan, a Syrian man from Idlib and father of eight, said this was the 11th time he had been displaced.

“We’re asking for one thing only, that God give us death or they return us to our home in Syria,” he told Al Jazeera.

A woman has been rescued from the rubble of a building in the southern Turkish city of Hatay, some 203 hours after a devastating earthquake struck the region, according to Turkish media.

Osmaniye, Turkey — Nearly 1,000 people are staying in carriages at Osmaniye railway station, after their homes either collapsed in the February 6 earthquakes or were left unsafe to live in.

They have been at the train station since the day after the quakes.

People who stay in the carriages are given three meals a day and have access to mobile toilets and showers provided by the government. The government says it is also providing “psychological support” to the survivors.

Along humans, other kind of rescuers have been working non-stop to find survivors trapped under rubble: dogs.

A K9 (a homophone of canine) team includes a dog or dogs specially trained to assist security forces and emergency teams – in rescues, drug enforcement or other operations.

The much-welcomed rescuers can find victims by scent alone – a key asset when it’s difficult to find survivors by sight or sound.

Read the full story here.

Kahramanmaras, Turkey — In this city close to the epicentre of last week’s devastating earthquakes, a Chinese rescue team was at work, trying to search for signs of life under piles of rubble. Their tool: their ears.

At a spot from which Al Jazeera was reporting, there were an estimated 22 bodies under the rubble and the Chinese team members were going back in and out of the area trying to listen for any voices.

Then, two French search and rescuers arrived. They had received a phone call saying that a voice was heard in the vicinity of a nearby half-standing hotel. So they went in to try and listen. But about an hour later, a body was carried out — and a morgue car arrived.

Morgue drivers are working around the clock in the Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, the closest to the epicentre, to give families the chance to bury their beloved ones.

“We give the bodies back to the families and they hug us and they thank us … so that they can somehow have some form of closure,” a Turkish volunteer told Al Jazeera.

One of the tragedies for those who survived the devastating earthquakes, on top of the destruction and discomfort, is that it is impossible to provide a dignified burial for family members or friends whose bodies are still trapped under the rubble.

Emine Akgul, 26, was rescued in Hatay, Turkey from under rubble, 201 hours after the earthquakes last week.

A quake victim, who was brought to the Bodrum district of Turkey’s southwestern Mugla province, gave birth to a baby girl, the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Isil Ozdemir, 22, and her relatives came to Bodrum after their house in Hatay province was destroyed.

“I am both scared and very happy. I held my baby in my arms in good health,” the mother said, adding that she experienced great panic during the earthquakes.

“It was raining during the earthquakes. We managed to get out of the building and stayed in a car for three-four days,” she added.