Turkey-Syria earthquake: As it happened

Hello MEE readers. Temperatures have dropped to subzero overnight in Turkey and Syria as search and rescue workers continue efforts to locate people trapped under the rubble.

More international aid is trickling in, as a Chinese rescue team has arrived on Wednesday morning. The US has said its rescue teams will also arrive early on Wednesday.

The death toll has neared 8,000 people in both countries, as the number of injured has reached the tens of thousands.

In Syria's rebel-held northwest, rescue and aid efforts are being obstructed by road damage to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey, the sole lifeline for millions of people in Syria's northwest who live in areas out of Syrian government control.

The United Nations announced it was releasing $25m from its emergency response fund to kickstart the disaster relief. Turkey's disaster management agency, Afad, said on Tuesday that more than 3,000 foreign aid workers were sent to assist in the disaster zone.

Several harrowing viral videos circulated on social media have shown survivors being rescued from the disaster.

One video showed a newborn baby that was pulled out alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after she was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother.

The mother did not survive.

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

An earthquake rescue team dispatched by China arrived in Turkey's Adana Airport early on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The team, comprised of 82 people, brought 20 tonnes of medical and other rescue supplies and equipment, as well as four search-and-rescue dogs.

The team will cooperate with the local government, the embassy in Turkey, the United Nations and other agencies on missions. CCTV reported that efforts will include setting up a temporary command, carrying out personnel search and rescue and providing medical aid.

Turkish goalkeeper Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan has died in the earthquake, his club Yeni Malatyaspor has confirmed.

"Our goalkeeper, Ahmet Eyup Turkaslan, lost his life after being under the collapse of the earthquake. Rest in peace," the club said on Twitter.

"We will not forget you, beautiful person," it added.

Turkaslan, 28, joined the Turkish second division club Yeni Malatyaspor in 2021, and played for them six times.

"RIP brother Eyup Ahmet Turkaslan. One moment you can see someone in the dugout, the next moment they're gone," said Yannick Bolasie, a former Crystal Palace and Everton winger, who currently plays for Turkish second division team Caykur Rizespor.

Ghanaian soccer player Christian Atsu, who plays for the Turkish club Hatayspor, was rescued from the rubble of the catastrophic earthquake after being reported missing.

Thousands of search and rescue workers and volunteers have been dispatched by the Turkish government to aid in the rescue and relief operations, as the death toll continues to mount.

According to the country's disaster management agency, Afad, a total of 60,217 personnel are working on the relief efforts, and 4,746 vehicles and construction machinery have been deployed in the earthquake zone.

Afad added that 10 ships and 100 aircraft have also been deployed. Turkey has also sent supplies to the disaster-stricken areas, including 54,511 tents, 102,254 mattresses, 300,000 blankets and 4,602 kitchen sets.

As we reach the 48-hour mark since the earthquakes took place, freezing weather is making rescue efforts difficult in Turkey and Syria.

With daytime weather staying above zero degrees Celsius, the night will be the coldest as temperatures in places like Gaziantep, near the epicentre of the earthquake in Turkey, could hit lows of -5C, according to Sky News Weather.

"We have to fight against the weather and the earthquake at the same time," said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.

Earthquake-hit areas will be mainly dry for the rest of this week, after a winter storm brought strong winds, heavy rain and mountain snow to Turkey and parts of the Middle East.

The first 72 hours of the rescue operation are the most crucial to reaching survivors stuck under the rubble. Experts, however, have told MEE that with the freezing temperatures that time period could be even shorter, as many risk hypothermia.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi issued a directive to send five military planes carrying emergency medical aid to Turkey and Syria, according to the state-owned newspaper Ahram.

On Tuesday, Sisi held a phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the first one between the two leaders.

"President Sisi reiterated Egypt's solidarity with Syria and its brotherly people in this calamity. He also directed that all possible aid be provided to Syria," presidential spokesperson Ahmed Fahmy said.

He also held a phone call with Turkey’s President Erdogan, in which he offered condolences and sympathy to the victims of the earthquake, and reiterated Egypt's solidarity with the “brotherly Turkish people”.

The only international aid corridor from Turkey into Syria has been disrupted because of earthquake damage, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation and laying the groundwork for potential wrangling between the Syrian government and the international community. 

The Bab al-Hawa border crossing is the sole lifeline for millions of people in Syria's northwest, as they live in areas the Syrian government does not control. Normally, more than 1,000 truckloads of aid pass through the crossing each month. 

The quakes underscore the fragility of getting aid into Syria and have already led to some calls for the US and EU to ease stringent sanctions that have been imposed since the outbreak of war in 2011. 

Syria and its Russian backers have gradually managed to shut down other border crossings in Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

The US and European Union imposed stringent sanctions on Syria following a civil war that started in 2011 but have also carved out substantial humanitarian exemptions.

“The sanctions aren’t hindering our efforts,” Amany Qaddour, regional director of Syria Relief and Development, told MEE, emphasising that getting aid into the northwest was a logistical and capacity-based challenge.

On Monday, Syria's UN ambassador, Bassam Sabbagh, said the current situation called for international donors to work to coordinate efforts with the Syrian government, redirecting aid that moves cross-border via Turkey. 

But the US has ruled out changing course. In Turkey "we have a partner in the government; in Syria, we have a partner in the form of NGOs on the ground who are providing humanitarian support,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. 

Syria earthquake: Growing calls to open border crossing for aid to reach Syria

The fires at the Port of Iskenderun have been contained, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said on Twitter.

The municipality said that fire continues to burn, but is no longer spreading, adding that it is expected to be fully extinguished over the next 24 hours.

The port is located about 60 miles from the epicentre of the earthquake. Turkish private news agency DHA reported earlier in the day that the sea water rose 200 metres inland in the port city of Iskenderun in Hatay province.

The death toll continues to rise as search and rescue teams in both Turkey and Syria look through the rubble to find survivors.

In Turkey, the death toll now stands at 5,894, according to Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, with more than 34,000 injured.

In Syria, the toll was at least 1,932, according to the Bashar al-Assad government and a rescue service in the rebel-held northwest.

A newborn baby was pulled out alive from the rubble of a home in northern Syria, after she was found still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother.

The mother of the baby died in the massive earthquake on Monday, a relative said.
The infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family, the rest of whom were all killed by the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck Syria and neighbouring Turkey.

"We heard a voice while we were digging," Khalil al-Suwadi told AFP.

"We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact) so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital."

Video of the rescue went viral on social media, showing a man sprinting from the rubble of a collapsed four-story building, clutching a tiny baby covered in dust.

A second man runs towards the first, carrying a blanket, in order to warm the newborn in the sub-zero temperatures while a third screams for a car to take her to hospital.

The baby was taken for treatment to the nearby town of Afrin, where the newborn was hooked to an intravenous drip. Her forehead and fingers were still blue from the cold temperatures.

"She is now stable," pediatrician Hani Maarouf told AFP.

Turkey's Borsa Istanbul stock exchange has been in a free fall since Monday morning, following devastating earthquakes that hit the southern part of the country. But there was one exception: cement companies.

At least nine cement companies' stocks have surged in the last two days, with at least five going up by nearly 21 percent.

The news was met with outrage, with the Yeni Cag daily writing in a headline: "May Allah curse you."

"The cement stocks reached the ceiling today as well. When did this society become this bad?"

Investors expect a large reconstruction effort in the coming months and are buying up shares that could be related to that effort. 

The construction sector in Turkey is one of the largest sources of employment. But it is also controversial due to Erdogan’s prioritising of infrastructure and housing investments for the past two decades.

A trader with 35-years of experience, speaking anonymously to MEE said the authorities should have closed the stock exchange for a while to protect the investors and stop opportunistic trading. 

"However, if you keep it open, there is nothing wrong with investing in winning stock to preserve your savings," the trader said. "You have to keep the markets on and running to hedge your risks. This is totally rational."

"It might look immoral, but this is the reality."

Turkish cement stocks surge in last two days, stoking public anger

The United Arab Emirates has announced an aid package of $100m for earthquake relief in Turkey and Syria, according to state news agency WAM.

The aid will be divided equally between Syria and Turkey, which have both suffered thousands of casualties and large-scale damage to buildings and infrastructure after 7-plus magnitude earthquakes hit the countries.

Saudi Arabia has also ordered the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre “to provide health, shelter, food, and logistical assistance” to Syria and Turkey, the official SPA news agency reported.

The centre will also launch a public donation campaign for quake victims in both countries.

The UN has announced $25m in humanitarian aid for Turkey and Syria following deadly earthquakes that have claimed more than 7,000 lives.

The aid, coming from the UN central emergency response fund, will help provide urgent lifesaving assistance to the region, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters during a news conference.

''The UN disaster assessment and coordination teams are in Adana today and mobilising to Gaziantep tomorrow to support Turkey's urban search and rescue teams,'' he said.

''We will do whatever the government of Turkey wants us to do and try to be as helpful as possible."

He also said that the road leading to Bab al-Hawa, the sole border crossing used to shuttle life-saving aid from Turkey into Syria, has been damaged, leading to major disruptions in aid operations.

The Bab al-Hawa crossing itself is "actually intact", Dujarric said. "However, the road that is leading to the crossing has been damaged, and that’s temporarily disrupted our ability to fully use it."