In Syria, most of the casualties were in the northwest of the country, predominantly in the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus, according to the state news agency, SANA.
This region was already struggling to rebuild vital infrastructure heavily damaged by continual aerial bombardment during the country’s civil war, which the United Nations estimates to have claimed 300,000 lives since 2011.
It’s a “crisis in the crisis,” El-Mostafa Benlamlih, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Syria, told CNN’s Christina Macfarlane on Monday.
“The infrastructure has been crippled by the situation, the war and so on,” he said. “Those cities are ghost cities… Many people are very scared. They don’t want to go back to their houses. If we can call them houses in these cases. They are ruins sometimes.”
Volunteer rescue group Syria Civil Defense, commonly known as the White Helmets, tweeted that hundreds of families were under the rubble of collapsed buildings in the northwest of the country.
More than 900 people have died in the area, it said, adding that the number is expected to rise.
Khalil Ashawi, a photojournalist based in the town of Jindiris in Syria’s northwestern Allepo governorate, told CNN that he hadn’t witnessed scenes as “disastrous” as Monday’s in the ten years he spent covering the war there.
“In all the years I’ve covered war here, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “It’s a disaster. Paramedics and fire fighters are trying to help but unfortunately there is too much for them to deal with. They can’t handle it all.”
His parents, who live in the Turkish city of Antakya, are missing, he said. That city too suffered significant damage.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that its cross-border aid into Syria had been temporarily disrupted due to damage caused by the earthquake.
Assistance was hampered due to “road challenges – particularly the road from Gaziantep to our transshipment hub in Hatay,” Madevi Sun-Suon, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) told CNN.
The Damascus-based Syrian Arab Red Crescent said on Tuesday that it doesn’t have the capability to deal with the devastation left by the earthquake.
“We were in every location after the earthquake, but we do not have the equipment, we do not have heavy machinery,” its president Khaled Hboubati said at a news conference in Damascus. “The death toll will increase… there are buildings still collapsing in Aleppo and Latakia,” said Hboubati.
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An aerial view of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, on February 18, 2023.
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Tent city set up in Hatay, Turkey by the coordination of Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) of Turkey on February 18.
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People pray for earthquake victims at Grand Camlica Mosque during the Lailat al Miraj in Istanbul on February 17.
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People wait near a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, hoping for news of their missing relatives on February 14.
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Children sleep in a tent in Idlib, Syria, where an amusement part was turned into a shelter for earthquake victims.
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A man walks near a building that toppled over onto a neighboring structure in Golbasi, Turkey, on February 13.
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People dig graves for earthquake victims in Idlib on February 13.
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People line up to receive supplies in Samandag, Turkey, on February 13.
Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies/AP
This satellite image, taken on February 13, shows a landslide blocking a road in Islahiye, Turkey.
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Two people walk through earthquake ruins in Hatay on February 12.
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Members of a Greek rescue team work at the site of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 11.
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Sezai Karabas is put on a stretcher after being rescued from rubble in Gaziantep, Turkey, on February 11. Karabas' young daughter Sengul was also rescued.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with residents in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on February 11.
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Residents walk near a destroyed mosque in Antakya, Turkey, on Friday, February 10.
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People bury earthquake victims in Adiyaman, Turkey, on February 10.
Emilie Madi/Reuters
Rescuers try to free a child trapped under rubble in Hatay on February 10.
Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters
People sit on furniture outside damaged buildings in Jandaris, Syria, on February 10.
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Cranes remove debris next to destroyed buildings in Antakya on February 10.
Emrah Gurel/AP
People mourn their loved ones as earthquake victims are buried in Adiyaman on February 10.
Stoyan Nenov/Reuters
Rubble is seen in Kahramanmaras on February 10.
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A man lies on a stretcher after he was rescued in Kahramanmaras on February 10.
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This aerial photo shows damage in Kahramanmaras on February 10.
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Raziye Kilinc is carried through a crowd on a stretcher after she was rescued from a destroyed building in Iskenderun, Turkey, on February 10. Her daughter is seen waving at the top.
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A man walks past collapsed buildings in Hatay on February 10.
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Search-and-rescue workers aid a cat that was rescued in Kahramanmaras on February 10.
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A woman mourns at a hospital in Kahramanmaras while others rest nearby on February 10.
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Rescuers carry Zeynep Kahraman after
pulling her alive from the rubble of a building in Kirikhan, Turkey, on February 10.
Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
A rescuer shows a hole where he was speaking to Kahraman while she was still under the debris on February 9.
IHA via AP
Destruction is seen in the city center of Kahramanmaras on February 9.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
Rescuers move a 14-year-old girl from under some rubble in Kahramanmaras on February 9.
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Firefighter Erhan Sarac and other rescue team members celebrate after a successful evacuation in Elbistan, Turkey, on February 9.
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Mehmet Nasir Duran sits on a chair as heavy machines remove debris from a building where five of his family members were trapped in Nurdagi, Turkey, on February 9.
Francisco Seco/AP
People stand next to the dead bodies of earthquake victims in Elbistan on February 9.
Francisco Seco/AP
A man, center, reacts after rescue team members removed the dead body of his father in Elbistan.
Kemal Aslan/Reuters
Members of search-and-rescue teams work at the site of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 9.
IHA via AP
Destruction is seen in the center of Hatay on February 9.
Hussein Malla/AP
A couple mourns the loss of their daughter as her body is transferred to Syria from the Turkish crossing point of Cilvegozu on February 9.
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A bird pulled from the rubble in Hatay is given water on February 9.
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Search-and-rescue efforts continue in Aleppo on February 8.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Abdulalim Muaini lies under the rubble next to the body of his wife, Esra, in Hatay on February 8.
Reuters reported that he was pulled out of the rubble later and survived. His children also died.
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Rescuers carry a man who was stuck in the rubble for two days in Hatay.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
Rescue workers carry
8-year-old survivor Yigit Cakmak from the site of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 8. It was more than 50 hours after the earthquake struck. The boy was passed from rescuer to rescuer until he was finally in the arms of his mother who was waiting at the site.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
People work at the site of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras on February 8.
Khalil Hamra/AP
Volunteers distribute aid to people in Antakya on February 8.
Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
A firefighter works at the Turkish port of Iskenderun, where a fire broke out in the aftermath of the quake.
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Mahmut Salman, 16, is rescued in Hatay on February 8.
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A person walks among tents in Kahramanmaras on February 8.
Hussein Malla/AP
The foot of a dead child is seen under a destroyed building in Kahramanmaras on February 8.
Kamran Jebreili/AP
A firefighter searches for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaziantep on February 8.
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Search-and-rescue teams carry 2-year-old Vafe Sabha, who was pulled from rubble along with her mother in Hatay on February 8.
Kemal Aslan/Reuters
Volunteers share an emotional moment as they take part in a rescue operation in Hatay on February 8.
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Search-and-rescue efforts continue in Hatay on February 7.
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Mesut Hancer
holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, who died in Kahramanmaras.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
Smoke billows from the port in Iskenderun as emergency workers continue rescue efforts on February 7.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Two people embrace near the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 7.
Francisco Seco/AP
Emergency workers search for people in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, on February 7.
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People in the Syrian village of Hajji Iskandar mourn over the bodies of a family and close neighbors who were killed in the quake.
Burak Kara/Getty Images
People wait for news of their loved ones, who were believed to be trapped under a collapsed building in Hatay on February 7.
IHA via AP
Destruction is seen in Hatay's city center on February 7.
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Police carry a child who was rescued from rubble in Hatay on February 7.
Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
A man reacts in Jandaris on February 7.
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Search-and-rescue efforts continue through cold weather conditions in Malatya, Turkey, on February 7.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
A woman mourns for a dead relative in Turkey's Hatay province on February 7.
Omar Sanadiki/AP
People try to identify the bodies of victims outside a hospital in Aleppo on February 6.
Dilara Senkaya/Reuters
A rescue team works at a collapsed building in Osmaniye, Turkey, on February 6.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
A child looks out from a bus where people were sleeping in Antakya on February 6.
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People gather around a bonfire in Kahramanmaras.
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Search-and-rescue personnel work at a collapsed building in Malatya on February 6.
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Residents rescue an injured girl from the rubble of a collapsed building in Jandaris on February 6.
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Rescuers work in Antakya on February 6.
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A man weeps as he carries the body of his infant son who was killed in Jandaris.
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This aerial photo shows damage in Hatay on February 6.
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A fire burns near overturned containers in Hatay.
Sertac Kayar/Reuters
People wait as rescue operations take place in Diyarbakir on February 6.
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People search a destroyed building in Adana on February 6.
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This aerial photo shows a damaged building in Adana.
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Quake victims are treated in the emergency ward of the Bab al-Hawa hospital in Syria's Idlib province.
Sezgin Pancar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A person climbs through the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay.
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A man reacts as people search for survivors in Diyarbakir.
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A person is rescued from a destroyed building in Gaziantep.
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Residents search through collapsed buildings in the Syrian village of Besnia.
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A building is destroyed in Adana.
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A woman reacts as rescuers search for survivors in Adana.
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Civilians and members of the Syria Civil Defense try to save people trapped beneath a destroyed building in Idlib.
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Search-and-rescue efforts continue at the site of a destroyed building in Diyarbakir.
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A cat is tended to after being rescued from the rubble in Diyarbakir.
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Emergency workers rescue a child from a collapsed building in Diyarbakir.
Sertac Kayar/Reuters
People work through the rubble of a collapsed building in Diyarbakir.
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People search for survivors in Diyarbakir.
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Members of the Syria Civil Defense, aka the White Helmets, retrieve an injured man from the rubble of a collapsed building in Azaz, Syria.
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People search a destroyed building in Diyarbakir.
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People look on at the site of a destroyed building in Adana.
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People search under the rubble of a building that collapsed in Azmarin, Syria.
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People warm themselves outside of earthquake-affected areas in Aleppo on February 6.
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The historic Yeni Mosque is damaged in Malatya.
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People search through rubble at a destroyed building in Diyarbakir.
Many of the families that became victims of those bombing campaigns faced further misery on Monday.
“One of my colleagues, who I’ve worked with for more than five years, was killed about two years ago in Russian airstrikes. I found out today that his whole family, his wife and kids, all passed away today when their building collapsed,” said Dr. Mostafa Edo, country director for the US-based NGO MedGlobal, who lives in Idlib.
He told CNN that hospitals in the city are overwhelmed and ill-equipped, lacking supplies like orthopedic plates to treat fractures. Hospitals are also suffering from power outages. Having previously relied on power from Turkey, they now resort to power generators for which fuel is in short supply.
Many fear the effects of the earthquake will hit those living in rebel-held areas the hardest, as the regime has traditionally used isolation to cripple local infrastructure.
Volunteer rescue group the Syria Civil Defense, commonly known as the White Helmets, declared the earthquake area a disaster zone on Monday and called on the international community to assist in the rescue and relief effort and put pressure on the Syrian regime and Russia “to ensure there is no bombing of the affected areas.”
Tanya Evans, the International Rescue Committee’s Syria Country Director, described the earthquake in a statement as “yet another devastating blow to so many vulnerable populations already struggling after years of conflict.”
She warned that thousands of people are exposed as temperatures plummet below zero. “Many in northwest Syria have been displaced up to 20 times,” she said, “and with health facilities strained beyond capacity, even before this tragedy many did not have access to the health care they critically need.”