War-torn Syria grapples with aftermath of deadly quake centred in Türkiye

Almost 1,300 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Syria after a series of powerful earthquakes centred in southeastern Türkiye jolted the wider region.

The death toll in regime-controlled areas rose to "1,403 injured and 570 dead in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, Tartus", Syria's health ministry said on Monday.

In opposition-held parts of the northwest of the country, at least 700 people were killed and more than 1,050 were injured, the White Helmets rescue group said, warning the toll could increase.

"Rescue efforts in northwest Syria are facing immense difficulties" because heavy equipment is required, said the group, which operates in opposition-controlled areas of the war-torn country.

Their teams have been conducting search and rescue operations on the ground.

It said earlier that more than 160 buildings had completely collapsed, while 330 had been partially levelled, and thousands of others had been damaged.

The quake smashed opposition-held regions that are packed with some four million people displaced from other parts of Syria by the country’s long civil war.

Many of them live in decrepit conditions with little health care with Russian-backed Syrian regime forces surrounding the area and sometimes carrying out airstrikes.

Dozens of buildings were also destroyed or damaged. Rescue workers said hospitals in the area were packed.

Raed Salah, the head of the White Helmets, the emergency organisation in opposition-held areas, said whole neighbourhoods were collapsed in some areas.

"This earthquake is the strongest since the National Earthquake Centre was founded in 1995," Raed Ahmed, who heads the centre, told state-run SANA news agency.

Strong tremors hit the Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, Tartus and Raqqa regions of Syria, causing great devastation, SANA reported.

READ MORE: Scores dead as magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes southern Türkiye

Centre of earthquake in Türkiye

According to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country's Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras Province at 0117 GMT (4:17 am local). The quake occurred at a depth of 7 kilometres. 

It was followed by 147 aftershocks including magnitudes 6.6 and 6.5 that struck southeastern Gaziantep province.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu added that the earthquakes had affected several provinces including Osmaniye, Malatya, Adiyaman, Adana, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Kilis and Sanliurfa. It was also felt in neighbouring Lebanon and as far away as Cairo, Egypt. 

At least 1,651 people have been reported killed and 11,119 others injured, according to official figures. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took to Twitter to convey get well wishes to citizens affected by the earthquake.

He added that AFAD and other units are “on alert.” He noted that rescue teams were immediately dispatched to areas affected by the earthquake.

"Our Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health, AFAD, provincial governorships and all other institutions started their work rapidly."

A second 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Elbistan district of Kahramanmarasat, Türkiye at 1024 GMT (1:24 pm local), according to the Turkish disaster agency. 

READ MORE: 'Drop, cover, hold': How Türkiye is preparing for the next big earthquake