Race to find survivors as quake aid pours into Turkey, Syria

By MEHMET GUZEL, GHAITH ALSAYED and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

NURDAGI, Turkey (AP) – Search teams and emergency aid from around the world are pouring into Turkey and Syria as rescuers working in freezing temperatures dig through the remains of buildings flattened by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

The death toll soared above 5,300 and was still expected to rise. But with the damage spread over a wide area, the massive relief operation often struggled to reach devastated towns, and voices that had been crying out from the rubble fell silent.

Monday’s quake and a cascade of strong aftershocks cut a swath of destruction that stretched hundreds of kilometers across southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria.

It toppled thousands of buildings and heaping more misery on a region shaped by Syria’s 12-year civil war and refugee crisis.

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2/7/2023 10:52:08 AM (GMT -5:00)