A lucky few are still being pulled alive from the rubble: two teenage sisters were rescued from debris in Kahramanmaraş city 101 hours after the massive earthquake hit Turkey.
Ayfer, 15, was rescued in the 99th hour after the quake, as rescuers calmed her by playing her music and promising her ice cream. Her sister, Fatma, 13, was saved two hours later in a 10-hour rescue operation after seismic sensors detected signs of life under the debris.
And on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, five days – approximately 102 hours – after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck, rescue workers managed to pull out a family of six, including two parents and their four children, from their collapsed first floor home in the city of Iskenderun.
But more than four days on, and as temperatures plummet in both countries, hopes of finding loved ones are dimming, and the reality of grief and shock is setting in for the thousands left displaced across both countries.
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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.
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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.
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Rescuers try to free a child trapped under rubble in Hatay on February 10.
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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.
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People mourn their loved ones as earthquake victims are buried in Adiyaman on February 10.
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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.
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A rescuer shows a hole where he was speaking to Kahraman while she was still under the debris on February 9.
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Destruction is seen in the city center of Kahramanmaras on February 9.
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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.
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People stand next to the dead bodies of earthquake victims in Elbistan on February 9.
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A man, center, reacts after rescue team members removed the dead body of his father in Elbistan.
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Members of search-and-rescue teams work at the site of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 9.
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Destruction is seen in the center of Hatay on February 9.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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People work at the site of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras on February 8.
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Volunteers distribute aid to people in Antakya on February 8.
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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.
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The foot of a dead child is seen under a destroyed building in Kahramanmaras on February 8.
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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.
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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.
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Smoke billows from the port in Iskenderun as emergency workers continue rescue efforts on February 7.
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Two people embrace near the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay on February 7.
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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.
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People wait for news of their loved ones, who were believed to be trapped under a collapsed building in Hatay on February 7.
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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.
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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.
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A woman mourns for a dead relative in Turkey's Hatay province on February 7.
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People try to identify the bodies of victims outside a hospital in Aleppo on February 6.
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A rescue team works at a collapsed building in Osmaniye, Turkey, on February 6.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Although they could be considered the lucky ones, a grim reality is setting in for those left alive.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, WHO incident response manager Robert Holden warned there were “a lot of people” surviving “out in the open, in worsening and horrific conditions.”
“We’ve got major disruptions to basic water supplies, we’ve got major disruption to fuel, electricity supplies, communication supplies, the basics of life,” Holden said.
“We are in real danger of seeing a secondary disaster which may cause harm to more people than the initial disaster if we don’t move with the same pace and intensity as we are doing on the search and rescue side,” Holden added.
In Syria, the earthquake’s devastation is heaping misery on top of an existing humanitarian crisis resulting from a more than decade-long civil war.
The delivery of urgent supplies to the country’s quake-hit northern areas has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of killing his own people.
Many Western nations have refused to send aid directly to the Syrian regime, which is under US and EU sanctions, and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says any aid it receives must go through the capital Damascus, leaving rebel-held areas reliant on aid groups including the UN.
Millions living in northwest Syria, much of which is controlled by anti-government rebels, were already suffering from the effects of extreme poverty and a cholera outbreak when the quake hit. Now, they are left fending for themselves, with the first UN aid convoy from Turkey into northwestern Syria arriving Thursday, days after the initial quake, followed by a second on Friday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In the past aid was brought into northwest Syria through Turkey from Bab al-Hawa crossing – the only point of entry authorized by the UN Security Council. A resolution proposing more border openings between Turkey and Syria was vetoed by Russia and China.
The other path in was through “crosslines,” aid coming in from Syrian government territory into the rebel-held northwest.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for more access to Syrian territories impacted to replenish aid supplies that have been exhausted, with the organization’s executive director calling the situation in the northwest of the country “catastrophe on top of catastrophe.”
“The one crossing authorized by the Security Council has been re-opened, but damage to roads and slowed customs clearances are significantly hampering movement,” World Food Programme executive director David Beasley told CNN.
“What stocks we have are being exhausted quickly, especially the ready to eat rations, and they need to be replenished quickly. To do this, we need access,” Beasley added.