Turkey was battling to respond to a historic natural disaster after its biggest earthquake in almost a century flattened neighbourhoods across the country’s south-east and northern Syria, leaving a death toll rising through the thousands.
Monday’s 7.8 magnitude quake destroyed thousands of buildings when it hit shortly after 4am local time, sending people fleeing into the streets in near freezing temperatures. Yet more devastation was wrought by a second quake of 7.5 magnitude that struck hours later.
Regions of Syria impoverished by years of war were also badly hit by the quake, with tremors felt as far away as Lebanon, Egypt and Israel.