More than 13 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the strong earthquake that hit the Turkish-Syrian border region on Monday, according to government estimates.
"This earthquake has directly affected 13.5 million of our citizens," Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said on Tuesday.
"Rescue work is continuing," the minister said in a statement.
"Some roads and paths were not accessible and work was underway to make them passable again. In some regions there was no water. efforts were being made to repair damage as quickly as possible and to supply people with water," Kurum added.
"The pain is indescribable. Every hour was precious. He sought to encourage citizens, stressing that in previous quakes, people had been rescued even after 100 hours," the Turkish minister stressed in his comments while concluding his speech during a press conference on Tuesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday evening that Türkiye will be in national mourning for seven days after the deadly earthquakes that affected southern provinces.
"Due to the earthquakes that took place in our country on Feb. 6, a national mourning period was declared for seven days. Our flag will be hoisted at half-mast until sunset on Sunday, Feb. 12, in all our country and foreign representations," Erdoğan said on Twitter.
Türkiye issued a level 4 alarm, which includes a call for international aid, AFAD said in a statement.
Following a discussion with the Turkish Foreign Ministry, AFAD also said that international assistance was called for through the Emergency Response Coordination Center (ERCC).
After the earthquakes, condolences poured in from around the world expressing solidarity with Türkiye
