Death tolls jump up

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll in his country has risen to 912, with that number expected to rise as casualties are discovered.

The Syrian government has revised its toll to 326, which is believed to only include areas held by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad.

Raed al-Saleh, director of the Syrian Civil Defence, a search-and-rescue group in rebel-held Syria known as the White Helmets, told Middle East Eye 147 people had been killed in opposition areas.

"The number of deaths is likely to increase dramatically as hundreds of families are under the rubble. Hundreds of houses have been destroyed," Saleh told Harun al-Aswad.

"The Civil Defence is in a state of complete emergency and yet we are unable to respond due to the horror of the disaster. We appeal to international organisations and bodies to intervene urgently to help save civilians, any second means saving the lives of dozens of civilians."