The death toll following the earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria this week has climbed to at least 22,772, according to authorities.
In Turkey, the death toll has risen to at least 19,388 with 77,711 others reported injured, according to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The total number of deaths in Syria stands at 3,384 — including 2,037 in rebel-held areas in the northwest, according to the White Helmets civil defense group – and 1,347 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to Syrian state media.
The total number of injured people in Syria across all affected territories stands at 5,245, with 2,295 in government-controlled ares and 2,950 in rebel-held areas.
At least 82,956 people in Syria and Turkey were injured following the quakes, according to the Turkish president, the White Helmets and Syrian state media.
Monday’s earthquake and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria have left more than 22,000 dead. The tragedy has surpassed numbers from other deadly earthquakes, including Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Families are grieving as they begin to bury their loved ones across the two countries.
Meanwhile, US search-and-rescue member is hopeful that survivors are still under rubble in Turkish city.
John Morrison of the Fairfax County Fire Department in Virginia is one of over 150 search-and-rescue members deployed to Turkey through the United States Agency for International Development. His team, which has been around the world to assist with disasters, is currently searching the entire city of Adiyaman for earthquake survivors.
“We still have a lot of hope that there are victims out here that are viable, and we are working diligently to find them,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
While his team has not found anyone alive in the rubble yet, he said he has previously seen victim rescues after even more than a week following an earthquake.
Since the quake in Turkey struck when many citizens were asleep, Morrison said that survivors could be wrapped up in blankets from their beds to help keep them warm in the cold temperatures.
Hypothermia is a big concern, he said, but his team has doctors ready to treat patients.
While it is a “widespread disaster,” search-and-rescue members try to whittle down the task by conferring with local authorities and people on the street to see if they’ve heard any noise from under the rubble, he said.
