Turkey And Syria Earthquake: These Heartbreaking Aerial Images Show Scale Of Destruction

Thousands of rescuers continue to pull more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings. In the picture, an aerial view shows residential buildings ruined by a deadly earthquake in Adiyaman, Turkey.

Over 110,000 rescue personnel were now taking part in the effort and more than 5,500 vehicles, including tractors, cranes, bulldozers and excavators, had been shipped, said the disaster management agency. In the picture, an aerial view shows collapsed buildings in Hatay, southeastern Turkey.

During his visit to the Hatay on Wednesday, Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster". We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for, he added”. He also hit back at critics, saying "dishonourable people" were spreading “lies and slander” about the government's actions. This aerial view shows rescuers searching for survivors amidst the rubble of a collapsed building in the town of Harim in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey.

For the first time since a powerful earthquake that killed thousands of people, Syria asked for help from European Union (EU). EU announced to provide additional support to both countries, including humanitarian assistance worth 6.5 million euros ($7 million) in one of the largest ever search and rescue operations through its Civil Protection Mechanism. In the picture, an aerial view shows a collapsed building during ongoing rescue searches in Hatay, southeastern Turkey.

US deployed over 150 searches and rescue personnel to Turkey, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said. This aerial view shows rescuers searching for survivors amidst the rubble of a collapsed building in the town of Harim in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey.

India launched 'Operation Dost' to help Turkey and Syria. India has sent 6 plane loads of relief material and rescue personnel to Turkey and Syria following earthquakes, "India has been able to send more than 250 personnel, specialised equipment and other relief material amounting to more than 135 tons to Türkey on 5 C-17 IAF aircrafts. As regards Syria, more than 6 tons of emergency relief assistance has been delivered through a C130J IAF aircraft to Damascus," said an MHA statement. In the picture, an aerial view shows a destroyed building and residents taking refuge in a football field in the village of Azmarin in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province.

The relief material to Turkey contained three truckloads of medicines and medical equipment, besides a 30-bed field hospital with specialists. The field hospital is being set up by 99 specially-trained personnel at Iskenderun in the Hatay province of Türkey. Once functional, it will be a 30-bed fully-equipped medical facility with operation theatre, X-ray machines, ventilators, etc, said the MHA. In the picture, an aerial view shows damaged and collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey.

Teams from more than two dozen countries have joined the local emergency personnel in the effort. But the scale of destruction from the quake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense and spread over such a vast area that many people were still awaiting help. In the picture, an aerial view shows collapsed and damaged buildings following an earthquake in Hatay, Turkey

Both countries are working to open their borders to allow more humanitarian aid to enter. In the picture, an aerial view shows damaged and collapsed buildings following an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

"There is damage to some roads on the Syrian side of the border. There has been some difficulty for our and international aid to get through because of the destruction," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters late Wednesday. "For this reason, we are working on the opening of two more posts," he said. In the picture, an aerial view shows residents, aided by heavy equipment, searching for victims and survivors amidst the rubble of collapsed buildings following an earthquake in the village of Besnia near the town of Harim in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Turkey.