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More than 11,000 people have died in relation to two massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on Monday (February 6), officials said during an update on Wednesday (February 8) via NBC News.
At least 11,236 people were reported dead in both countries.
At least 8,574 died and 40,910 were injured in relation to the earthquakes in Turkey, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who visited areas affected on Wednesday. At least 8,000 others were reported to have been rescued from the rubble alive, Turkey's disaster and emergency management office confirmed.
At least 1,262 people were reported to be killed and 22,085 others were injured in Syrian government-held areas, the Syrian Ministry of Health confirmed. The White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense and medical group in opposition-held areas of the country, reported that at least 1,400 people were killed and 2,700 others injured in rebel-held territories.
The initial earthquake was reported to be centered about 20 miles from Gaziantep, a provincial capital city within Turkey and was the country's largest disaster since 1939, Erdogan announced on Monday (February 6). The first earthquake was reported to register at a 7.8 magnitude and the second at 7.5, NBC News reported.
A video shared online shows the exact moment a building in Turkey collapsed after the first of two massive earthquakes struck the region Monday morning.
The video, which was shared by The Times and the Sunday Times' YouTube account courtesy of URFA TV via Reuters, shows people frantically running as the Haliliye building collapses. The region has already been dealing with a harsh winter as millions have been displaced by an ongoing nearly 12-year civil war.