Hello MEE readers. More than 15,000 people have died in the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and rescue teams' hopes are diminishing. It is now past the 72-hour period that experts say is crucial to saving people trapped under the rubble.

As government resources have been stretched thin, Turkish citizens have been stepping up to volunteer in relief efforts. And in northwestern Syria, UN aid is not reaching opposition-held territory, officials and humanitarian workers have told MEE.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for the latest news.

With the devastation of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria affecting over 23 million people since 6 February, thousands of photos and videos have been shared online with tips and advice.

So far, the death toll has surpassed 15,000 people, making the earthquakes some of the worst since 1999. 

With people scrambling for information on what to do during an earthquake and concerned about aftershocks or how to predict future earthquakes, Middle East Eye has clarified some common myths by speaking to experts.

Read more here.

Turkey-Syria earthquake: Common myths and theories debunked

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President William Lai will each donate a month's salary for Turkish earthquake relief efforts, the presidential office said on Thursday.

Tsai and Lai "hope to do their part to help Turkey rebuild its homeland as soon as possible", the presidential office said in a statement.

The news adds to the already announced $2m in disaster relief and two rescue teams that Taiwan has pledged to Turkey to help in search efforts for survivors.

Tsai spoke by video call to some of Taiwan's team on the ground on Wednesday.

"I would like to thank all the members for not being afraid of difficulties and going all out so that Taiwan and Turkey can help each other," she wrote on her Facebook page.

Turkey joined international efforts and sent rescuers to Taiwan in 1999 after a massive earthquake killed more than 2,000 people.

Turkey's death toll has surpassed 12,000 people, bringing up the total number of people killed to more than 15,000 across both that country and Syria.

Turkey's disaster management agency, Afad, has said the latest death toll was at least 12,391, while 62,914 others were injured, as reported by Turkey's state news agency Anadolu.

In Syria, the death toll had climbed to at least 2,950, according to the government of Bashar al-Assad and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.

As we approach the 72-hour mark since the first earthquake hit, rescue workers are on a race against time to save as many people as possible from under the rubble.

The death toll has climbed up to more than 12,000 people, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged shortcomings in Ankara’s response saying, “It’s not possible to be ready for a disaster like this.”

In northwestern Syria, among those killed are several members of the Syria Civil Defence group, also known as the White Helmets, which has been spearheading rescue efforts in the rebel-held area.

Twitter access was restricted across the country, which provoked an outcry from campaigners who said the move could hinder rescue efforts in the afflicted southeast. But Twitter CEO Elon Musk said that he was informed by the Turkish government that service would be restored.

The European Union has meanwhile announced a donor conference for both Syria and Turkey to help raise funds for the relief effort.

However, while aid has been pouring in from across the world and the UN, limited aid has reached northwestern Syria according to officials and humanitarian workers who spoke to MEE. Read more here.

In order to address this, Turkey's foreign minister said Ankara is working on opening two more border gates to Syria to enable the flow of humanitarian aid.

MEE will continue updating you on the aftermath of the earthquakes. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for the latest news.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has said that the Turkish government informed him that service to the social media platform will be restored.

"Twitter has been informed by the Turkish government that access will be reenabled shortly," Musk said on Twitter.

Access to the social media platform was restricted in Turkey on Wednesday, provoking an outcry from campaigners who said the move could hinder rescue efforts in the afflicted southeastern part of the country.

At least 10 Palestinian refugees living in Syria were killed in the earthquakes, according to an official with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

There are nearly half a million Palestinian refugees in Syria, and about 60,000 live in camps located in the areas affected by the quakes. UNRWA has requested $2.7m in aid from the international community for relief efforts.

Several volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defence group have died from Monday's earthquakes, the group has confirmed.

In a social media post, the group, also known as the White Helmets, said that four of its volunteers had been killed. One volunteer, Mahmoud Sharif, was killed after his home collapsed.

The White Helmets posted a video on social media of recovering Sharif's body.

The European Union is asking member states to "respond favourably" to an official plea from the Syrian government, signalling the potential for a substantial shift in the bloc's dealings with Damascus as the scale of the catastrophe grows.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made an official plea to the EU for help on Wednesday.

The European Union was swift to dispatch rescue teams to Turkey after the massive earthquakes struck the country on Monday, close to the border with Syria.

But it initially offered only minimal assistance to Syria through existing humanitarian programmes because of EU sanctions imposed since 2011 on the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The sanctions were in response to his brutal crackdown on protesters, which spiralled into a civil war.

The US has ruled out working with Syria and has not indicated a change in its sanctions policy.

EU signals it is ready to work with Assad government on aid

Christian Atsu, a Ghanian national who plays for the Turkish football club Hatayspor, remains missing following the earthquakes that struck Turkey, according to the club's director Volkan Demirel.

On Tuesday, Hatayspor vice president Mustafa Ozat and Ghana's football association had mistakenly said that Atsu had been rescued from the rubble and transported to hospital.

"There is no information on his whereabouts yet; we don't know where he is," Demirel told Reuters. "It's not the case that he was pulled out or taken anywhere else."

The search for Atsu is ongoing, Demirel added. Atsu's agent, Nana Sechere, confirmed on social media that his client cannot be located.

Atsu, 31, had joined Hatayspor last year after spending nearly a decade in England at clubs Chelsea and Newcastle United.

The death toll in rebel-held northwest Syria has risen to at least 1,730 people, according to the latest tally from the Syrian Civil Defence.

The group, known also as the White Helmets, said on Twitter that the "number is likely to rise significantly due to presence of hundreds of families under the rubble of destroyed buildings".

"Our teams continue rescue operations amid difficult circumstances."

The increase in deaths brings the total number of people killed in both Turkey and Syria to more than 12,000. Turkey says that the death toll from Monday's quakes has hit 9,057, with a further 52,979 people injured.

The European Union is planning to host a donor conference in March to collect international aid for Turkey and Syria to help the countries deal with the devastating aftermath of the earthquakes, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Twitter.

"We are now racing against the clock to save lives together. Soon we will provide relief aid, together," von der Leyen said.

The EU chief said the conference would be held early next month in Brussels in coordination with Turkish authorities "to mobilise funds from the international community in support for the people" of both countries."

But we are already sending now a message to the people of Turkiye and Syria: the EU will support your communities. Because no one should be left alone when a tragedy like this hits a people”, von der Leyen said in a statement.