Hope for earthquake survivors fades

Over a week since the earthquake that devastated towns and cities along both sides of the Syrian-Turkish border, the death toll now exceeds 41,000. As rescue efforts move into the recovery phase, questions are inevitably being asked

  • Collapsed residential building with completely destroyed barrel, inside and in front of it people
    Surprised in their sleep: this apartment building in Diyabakir is one of several thousand buildings destroyed by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border region. The disaster surprised most people while they slept. The quake occurred at 4:17 a.m. local time on Monday
  • The rubble of the house is buried under its own roof
    Thousands of lives lost, buildings destroyed: the quake claimed thousands of victims – the authorities are still trying to ascertain exactly how many. What is clear is that several thousand buildings were destroyed – like this one in Kahramanmaras in the majority Kurdish-populated city of Diyabakir
  • A chain of helpers lifts a stretcher with a person on it down from a pile of rubble
    Rescue attempts "with bare hands": as here in Adana, countless civilian and official rescue workers search collapsed buildings for trapped people. Eyewitnesses report that aid workers were digging "with their bare hands" in the rubble for survivors. The region was shaken by more than 50 aftershocks. The strongest aftershock with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred on Monday afternoon
  • A completely destroyed building: floors lie on top of each other with almost no space in between
    Northern Syria also affected: the northern Syrian province of Idlib was also affected by the quake. Monday's earthquake is one of the most devastating in the region in decades, striking areas already badly scarred by the Syrian civil war
  • People on a pile of concrete rubble. It is impossible to guess what once stood there
    Houses damaged in the war and new ones destroyed: "People in Idlib poured out of their houses, they were in panic. Shortly after, the first houses collapsed, which were already not in good condition before as a result of Russian air strikes, but newer buildings also collapsed. Whole families are still buried," said a local reporter in Sarmada, Syria
  • Two men in protective clothing and white helmets peer into a gap between building rubble
    White Helmets in action: the White Helmets, founded during the Syrian civil war, are participating in recovery efforts in rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria. These two men are searching for survivors in Zardana
  • The roof and part of the outer wall of the mosque have collapsed, snow covers the ground and the building, it is snowing
    Historical buildings destroyed: cultural treasures were also destroyed in the earthquake. In the Turkish province of Maltaya, the famous 13th-century Yeni Mosque was severely damaged. A winter storm is further complicating rescue efforts in parts of the affected areas. At midday, Turkey officially asked its NATO partners and the EU for support in the rescue and recovery work
  • People stand around a collapsed building in a snowy city
    Regions need help: numerous countries – even Ukraine – have offered help. Germany's minister of the interior, Nancy Faeser, told the press that emergency aid had been arranged and that the first aid supplies were already on their way to the disaster region, including emergency shelters and water treatment plants. "We must not forget that the weather conditions there are very precarious," Faeser said
  • Drone footage shows a tent city in Kahramanmaras stadium, Turkey, the city at the epicentre of the earthquake (image: Issam Abdallah/REUTERS)
    Where to now? Drone footage shows a tent city in Kahramanmaras stadium, Turkey, the city at the epicentre of the earthquake. According to Turkish authorities, nearly 13 million people in 10 cities have been affected, and at least 33,143 buildings have either collapsed, been severely damaged or require immediate demolition. The number is likely to rise as officials continue to assess the damage
  • Destroyed residential area in Hatay, Turkey (image: Zuma Wire/Imago)
    Fraud and political influence: officials responsible for enforcing the laws admit that construction companies, especially in smaller cities, have political influence and use it to avoid being supervised. Builders are more focused on maximising their profits than on building safety
  • President Recep Tayyip Erdogen visits Kahramanmaras at the quake's epicentre (image: AA/picture-alliance)
    Will the Turkish election take place? Bulent Arinc, former deputy prime minister and long-time associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called on Twitter for the elections to be postponed, preferably by a year. Even though Arinc no longer holds office, his word carries weight with the public