Egypt’s president has called his Syrian counterpart to offer support following the earthquake, in the first official exchange between the two.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi offered “sincere condolences” to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a spokesperson for the Egyptian presidency said on Tuesday.

"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.

Assad thanked Egypt for its position, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Turkish Airlines will issue free tickets to earthquake survivors, according to a statement by its spokesperson.

Yahya Ustun, the press councillor for Turkey’s national carrier, said in a statement on Twitter that survivors from Adana, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Elazig, Kahramanmaras, Malatya, Adiyaman, Gaziantep and Kayseri will be able to get one-way ticket for outbound flights until 14 February.

He said the ticket could be purchased through phone call reservations.

Deprem bölgesi dönüş seferleri ücretsiz olarak vatandaşlarımızın kullanımına açılmıştır. pic.twitter.com/lbhvkJ5CgC

— Yahya ÜSTÜN (@yhyustun) February 7, 2023

Sea levels reportedly rose in the earthquake-hit port city of Iskenderun in Hatay province on Tuesday.

Turkish private news agency DHA reported that the sea water flooded 200 metres inland, in the streets near the coast and left some pools. 

Despite earlier speculation, Turkey’s disaster and emergency management agency AFAD said in a statement on Monday that there was no danger of a tsunami in southern Turkey.

Professor Orhan Tatar, a senior official at AFAD, said a tsunami threat would be more likely in the open seas.

He added that the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute didn’t issue a tsunami warning.

A tsunami usually would erupt soon after the tremor, but already two days have passed since two quakes hit Turkey and Syria.

The death toll in Syria has reached 1,622, according to figures compiled by the Syrian government and civil defence volunteers in opposition-held territory. 

812 people were killed and 1,449 injured in government-controlled areas, Syria’s health ministry said. 

In opposition-run territory in northwest Syria, 810 people were killed and 2,200 injured, Syria’s Civil Defence - known as the White Helmets - reported. 

The White Helmets said that hundreds remain trapped under the rubble, and the death toll would likely continue to rise. 

The quake impacted the Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Latakia and Raqqa regions of the country. 

Aid agencies are warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe in northwest Syria after Monday's devastating earthquake halted the flow of critical UN aid from Turkey to rebel-held areas.

The earthquake, which has claimed the lives of at least 4,000 people in both countries, decimated buildings and apartment blocks in Idlib and northern Aleppo, forcing many internally displaced Syrians to seek refuge in open fields and under trees amid freezing weather conditions.

Representatives from three aid agencies told Middle East Eye that the damage caused to roads leading to and from the Bab al-Hawa crossing had severely disrupted crucial aid deliveries, compounding the crisis.

Read more:

Syria: Thousands at risk of freezing to death after quake halts cross-border aid

The speaker of the Turkish parliament confirmed that a parliamentarian died as a result of the quakes on Monday.

Yakup Tas, an MP for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the province of Adiyaman, was killed after being crushed by rubble in the wake of the 7.8 magnitude quake.

"I learned with deep sorrow that AKP Adiyaman Deputy Yakup Tas, who was under the rubble in the earthquake disaster, lost his life," tweeted Speaker Mustafa Sentop.

"I wish God's mercy on our deceased deputy and all our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake, patience and condolences to our nation."

Around 20 prisoners, suspected to be Islamic State fighters, have reportedly escaped from a prison in northern Aleppo as a result of Monday's earthquake. 

They fled northern Aleppo's notorious Rajo jail with the help of guards and officials, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Tuesday. 

Sources told the SOHR that detainees paid thousands of dollars to prison guards to help them escape. 

The highly securitised facility holds 2,000 inmates, of whom 1,300 are suspected IS fighters, a prison official told AFP on Monday.

"After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison," the official said. 
 

Turkey has resumed oil flows to a key export terminal in the south of the country, after suspending activities on Monday following the earthquake.

As a precaution, the state pipeline operator Botas stopped flows into and exports out of the Ceyhan port on the Mediterranean coast.

Activities have since resumed, an official told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The port is a key hub for oil sales. It exports 1 million barrels a day, which is roughly one percent of total global supplies according to Bloomberg.

There was a spike in crude oil prices on Monday, partly due to Ceyhan’s halt in exports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces impacted by the quake.

The 10 provinces, which have been designated "disaster zones", are Kahramanmaras, Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Kilis and Osmaniye.

Erdogan was speaking at the disaster coordination centre in Ankara on Tuesday in his first TV appearance since the quake.

The president announced that the death toll had jumped to 3,549, over 22,000 people were wounded, and at least 8,000 people had been taken out of the rubble alive.

Erdogan declares affected cities 'disaster zones'

“We are facing one of the biggest disasters not only in the history of our Republic, but also in our geography and the world,” he said.

"Our military forces are on duty in the disaster area with thousands of expert personnel, as well as 26 cargo planes, and our Coast Guard Command with its ships and boats," he added.

Meanwhile, Erdogan confirmed that 70 countries had offered help with search and rescue operations.

He said that 53,317 search and rescue workers have been deployed in the affected areas, with 54,000 tents, 102,000 beds and other basic needs sent to the region so far.

The president said the government plans to open hotels in the touristic Antalya area to help people impacted by the earthquakes.

Aftershocks continue to strike southern Turkey and northwest Syria after Monday's powerful quake.

Earthquakes of varying magnitudes between 4.1 and 5.5 hit the region on Tuesday, according to data from the US Geological Survey. That includes a 5.5 magnitude aftershock detected in the southern town of Golbasi.

Aftershocks are sudden, less violent movements of the earth's surface following a larger earthquake. Turkey is highly prone to quakes due to its location at the meeting point of three different tectonic plates of the Earth's core.

The death toll since Monday continues to increase, with Turkey's disaster emergency agency AFAD reporting more than 3,432 deaths.

In Hatay, one of the worst hit areas from the earthquake, a baby and her mother were rescued after over 29 hours. Turkish Airlines said that it had carried over 11,000 volunteers to southern areas of the country.

Meanwhile, at least 1,559 people have been killed and over 3,600 injured in Syria.

Turkey's death toll from the earthquakes in the southern part of the country has jumped to 3,381 according to the country's disaster emergency agency AFAD. An additional 20,426 people were injured.

More than 5,775 buildings have collapsed in the affected areas and a total of 285 aftershocks have been felt across the region.

The total number of deaths across Turkey and Syria has now risen to more than 4,700 people. In Syria, at least 1,444 people were killed.