Turkey-Syria quake updates: Search for survivors amid bitter cold

• Turkish authorities have confirmed the deaths of 2,921 people after its southeastern region bordering Syria was rocked by major earthquakes. A further 1,444 people are confirmed to have died in Syria.
• The initial magnitude 7.8 tremor early on Monday brought down buildings as people slept and was followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hours later amid several aftershocks.

Rescuers working through night in Turkey’s Sanliurfa

Rescuers braved freezing temperatures in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa as they worked through the night to try and pull survivors from the wreckage of collapsed buildings.

At the site of a flattened seven-storey building, Omer El Cuneyd waited for news of survivors.

“There is a family I know under the rubble,” the 20-year-old Syrian student told the AFP news agency.

“Until 11:00am or noon, my friend was still answering the phone. But she no longer answers. She is down there.”

Sanliurfa’s streets, meanwhile, were filled with terrified residents who spent the night outside despite the bitter cold.

Mustafa Koyuncu packed his wife and their five children into their car, too scared to move.

“We can’t go home,” the 55-year-old told AFP. “Everyone is afraid.”

Turkey death toll rises to 2,921

Turkey’s relief agency says the death toll from Monday’s earthquakes has climbed to 2,921.

Yunus Sezer, who heads the AFAD agency, said an additional 15,384 people were injured, while 6,217 buildings have collapsed.

The two quakes were followed by 243 aftershocks, he said, adding that 16,400 rescue workers were active in the affected areas.

Fear, confusion on streets of Turkey’s Gaziantep

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed al-Khatib is sheltering with his family in Gaziantep.

He gave us this update:

“Since the earthquake until now, you see thousands of cars just moving in and out of the streets. People don’t know where they are going. We went to buy some bread for the kids, and we spent more than an hour just standing in line to get five pieces of bread. People are panicked. What they want to do, where they want to go, they don’t know.

On the street that I am in, there are dozens of cars waiting in line in front of gas stations.

They want to fill up their cars, but they don’t know where to go.

What they should do, nobody knows.

We are based right now in one of the mosques. Me, my mother, my father and my kids. And the aftershocks make us crazy. We feel it, we try to run, and it ends. We feel it, we try to run and it ends.

When the second earthquake struck, it made us all crazy. We started running like crazy.

There are hundreds of people inside the mosque — they just want to survive.

A lot of people are standing outside on the streets, they don’t feel safe, even inside the mosque. They are standing outside in the snow. It’s below zero right now. It’s too cold. I’m talking to you, and I am shaking.

So far, we haven’t seen much of help in our area, as we don’t have as much destroyed and damaged buildings. But we’ve seen many utility workers — especially from the electricity and gas companies — running to put out the fires which we saw after the second earthquake.

Where we are, people need more food and more blankets.”

At least 20 escape Syria prison holding ISIL inmates: Report

Prisoners at a jail in northwestern Syria have mutinied following Monday’s deadly earthquakes, with at least 20 escaping the jail, a source at the facility told the AFP news agency.

The military police prison in the town of Rajo, near the Turkish border, holds about 2,000 inmates, with about 1,300 of them suspected to be ISIL (ISIS) fighters, said the source.

The prison also holds fighters from Kurdish-led forces.

“After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison,” said the official at Rajo jail. “About 20 prisoners fled … who are believed to be [ISIL] militants.”

Turkey death toll rises to 2,379

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay says the death toll from Monday’s earthquakes has risen to 2,379 in Turkey.

Another 14,482 people were injured in 10 provinces, he said, while a total of 7,840 people have been rescued from the rubble.

Some 338,000 survivors were taking shelter in dormitories, universities and other facilities, he added.

Xi sends condolences to Turkey’s Erdogan, Syria’s Assad

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent messages of condolences to Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Xi said he was shocked to learn about the heavy casualties and expressed sincere sympathy with the injured and the bereaved families, the China Daily website said.

The China International Development Cooperation Agency meanwhile said it has been in communication with related departments in Turkey and Syria and was ready to provide the necessary emergency humanitarian assistance, reported the China Daily.

Syria’s UN envoy calls for help with rescue efforts

Syria is calling on the United Nations and all member states to help with rescue efforts, health services, shelter and food aid.

The earthquake-damaged area in Syria is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by government forces and borders Turkey.

Syria’s UN Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh told reporters the UN secretary-general “assured us that the UN will do all it’s possible in helping Syria in this very difficult situation”. Sabbagh said he had delivered a letter to Antonio Guterres from the country’s foreign minister requesting help.

Sabbagh was asked whether Syria would agree to allow the UN to deliver aid through other crossing points from Turkey if that is feasible.

He did not respond directly but said the government is ready to help and coordinate aid deliveries “to all Syrians in all territory of Syria”.

The rebel-held territory has depended on a flow of aid from nearby Turkey for everything from food to medical supplies.

UN says damaged roads, weather hampering Syria rescue efforts

A top United Nations humanitarian official has said damage to roads, fuel shortages and cold weather in Syria are hampering the agency’s response to Monday’s earthquake.

The quake struck mostly in the north, where 12 years of civil war have already traumatised the population and weakened many buildings.

“The infrastructure is damaged, the roads that we used to use for humanitarian work are damaged, we have to be creative in how to get to the people … but we are working hard,” UN resident coordinator El-Mostafa Benlamlih told the Reuters news agency in an interview via video link from Damascus.

Even before the earthquake, the UN estimated about 70 percent of the population needed humanitarian aid.

Now, “they are the same people — suffering more,” Benlamlih said.

He noted that many people whose homes had collapsed were spending the night out in the open or in cars, often in freezing temperatures, without adequate access to basic items like jackets and mattresses.