Survivors hear cries for help from beneath the rubble but struggle to reach those trapped with rescue workers spread thin and digging with their bare hands.
More than 8,000 people have been pulled from the debris in Türkiye alone, and some 380,000 have taken refuge in government shelters or hotels, said Türkish Vice-president Fuat Oktay.
Many took to social media to plead for assistance for loved ones believed to be trapped under the rubble — and Türkiye's state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying all calls were being "collected meticulously" and the information relayed to search teams.However, with the damage spread over a wide area relief operations have struggled to reach devastated towns, while voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.
Nurgul Atay told The Associated Press she could hear her mother's voice beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Antakya, the capital of Türkiye's Hatay province, but that her and others' efforts to get into the ruins had been futile without any heavy equipment to help."My mother is 70 years old, she won't be able to withstand this for long."
A rescuer cradled her head in his hands and tenderly wiped dust from around her eyes as she lay amid crushed concrete and twisted metal before being pulled out and passed to another man.While the situation in Türkiye is bad in war-torn Syria there are fears it is worse.
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