Iran Press/ Asia: The death toll from earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria this week passed 15,000 on Thursday amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams.
In Syria, The Civil Defence group is calling for additional search and rescue equipment, describing the situation in northwestern Syria as “tragic” and permeated with “the smell of death” everywhere.
Thousands of buildings collapsed and aid agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance.
While Turkey has received an outpouring of support and aid, analysts have warned that Syrian victims may become hostages of Western sanctions imposed against the government amid the country's more than decade-long civil war.
Some areas most impacted by the quake are controlled by President Bashar al-Assad's government, others by Turkish-backed and US-backed opposition forces, Kurdish forces, and Sunni Islamist fighters.
The Syrian government says it has set up more than 100 shelters equipped with aid supplies across areas it controls.
Extreme winter weather is impacting rescue efforts. Aftershocks are also a potential hazard — at least 125 measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since the 7.8 magnitude quake struck southern Turkey on Monday, according to the US Geological Survey.
Though their frequency and magnitude are decreasing, 5.0 to 6.0+ aftershocks remain possible and bring a risk of additional damage to compromised structures and a continued threat to rescue teams and survivors.
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