Turkey-Syria earthquakes death toll soars over 7,000

A painstaking effort to reach victims of a monster earthquake and several strong aftershocks continued Tuesday across a huge swath of southern Turkey and northern Syria. The death toll from the devastating earthquakes that struck early Monday morning soared to over 7,000 a day later as crews raced to try to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of collapsed buildings. 

Aftershocks, including a magnitude 5.7 temblor that hit Tuesday, made the search for survivors even more dangerous.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that he was declaring a state of emergency for three months across 10 provinces in the earthquake zone. The country’s vice president, Fuat Oktay, told reporters that 8,000 people had been pulled from under rubble. He said there were 20,000 people taking part in the rescue efforts.

Tens of thousands of people were injured in the two nations and an untold number left homeless in harsh winter conditions.

Nations from around the world began pouring aid material and rescue teams into the region. Oktay said rescue teams from 14 countries were already in Turkey and teams from 70 more nations were expected as the day progressed.