Two earthquakes have claimed over 2,500 lives on the border between Turkey and Syria. In the early hours of the morning, as people slept, a 7.8-magnitude quake hit. The scale of the devastation caused to the surrounding area of Gazientep is clear to see from the news footage captured at the scene. The initial impact could be felt as far away as Ankara, Beirut, Cairo and even Greenland. Over the border in northern Syria, the impact was just as devastating. The death toll there is rising too.
At lunchtime, local time, with Turkish emergency crews and civilian rescuers hard at work among the ruins in Gazientep, a second quake struck – this time of magnitude 7.7.