ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces worst-affected by an earthquake that has killed thousands.
Erdogan said that the death toll in Turkey has risen to 3,549 people.
More than 1,600 people are reported to have died in Syria.
In a televised address, Erdogan said the state of emergency is to ensure that rescue work can be “carried out quickly” in the country’s south-east.
He said the measures would allow relief workers and financial aid into the affected regions, but did not give further details.
The state of emergency will end just before elections on 14 May, when Erdogan will attempt to stay in power after 20 years.
Turkey last imposed a state of emergency in 2016 after a failed coup attempt. It was lifted two years later.
Rescuers in Turkey are battling heavy rain and snow as they race against the clock to find survivors of the earthquake that struck in the early hours of Monday.
The World Health Organization has warned the toll may rise dramatically as rescuers find more victims.
Thousands of children may be among the dead following the earthquake and aftershocks, the United Nations has said.
Heavy machinery worked through the night in the city of Adana, with lights illuminating the collapsed buildings and huge slabs of concrete, in scenes repeated across southern Turkey.
Occasionally the work stopped and a call of “Allahu Akbar” rose up when a survivor was found, or when the dead were recovered.
Adana is full of the homeless – those who lost their homes and others too fearful of aftershocks to return.
Some left without shoes, coats and phone chargers. Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing later this week.
The 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 (01:17 GMT) on Monday at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep, according to the US Geological Survey.
A later tremor had a magnitude of 7.5 and its epicentre was in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province. (BBC)
