• Death toll from deadly earthquakes crosses 17,500, likely to rise higher
• India sends sixth ‘Operation Dost’ flight to Turkey with relief assistance
• Quake could cost $4 bn: ratings agency
• First U.N. aid quake convoy reaches Syria today
• Armenia sends rescue teams to Turkey, Syria
• Russia sends 2nd rescue team to Turkey
• Turkey U-turns on rejection of Cypriot rescue aid
• Freezing temperatures deepens misery of survivors
• Four dead in 5.4-magnitude Indonesia quake
• Turkey to open two more border crossings with Syria
• Hospital car park becomes makeshift morgue after Turkey quake

The plight of hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by earthquakes in Turkey and Syria grew more desperate, while hopes faded of many more people being found alive amid the ruins of cities.

The death toll from Monday’s quakes, which struck in the early morning, passed 17,000 on Thursday across both countries. It was the biggest natural disaster to strike the region since 1999, when a similarly powerful quake killed more than 17,000 people in Turkey.

A Turkish official said the disaster posed “very serious difficulties” for the holding of an election scheduled for May 14 in which President Tayyip Erdogan has been expected face the toughest challenge in his two decades in power. With anger simmering over the slow delivery of aid and delays in getting the rescue effort underway, the disaster is bound to play into the vote should it still go ahead.

The first United Nations convoy carrying aid to Syrians stricken by a deadly earthquake crossed from Turkey, border crossing sources said, after the U.N’s envoy to Syria said assistance was desperately needed there. Monday’s huge earthquake devastated swathes of southern Turkey and northern Syria. It stuck at night and was followed by powerful aftershocks, and the death toll from it neared 16,000 on Thursday as frustration simmered over the slow delivery of aid.

The U.N. convoy entered Syria at the Bab Al Hawa crossing, the sources said. U.N. special Syria envoy Geir Pedersen earlier said people impacted by the earthquake needed “more of absolutely everything” in terms of aid. “We need lifesaving aid,” Pedersen told reporters in Geneva. “It’s desperately needed by civilians wherever they are, irrespective of borders and boundaries. We need it urgently through the fastest, most direct and most effective routes. They need more of absolutely everything.”

At least four people were dead and several houses and buildings destroyed after a 5.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia’s Papua province, a disaster agency official said.

“The quake damaged houses, a restaurant and buildings. Four people were killed during the earthquake. Now we are carrying out risk assessments of the quake,” the official told Xinhua news agency.

According to country’s meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency, the earthquake occurred at 1.28 p.m. with its epicentre located 1 km southwest of the provincial capital of Jayapura and a depth of 10 km.

The earthquake did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami, it said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to travel to the quake-hit provinces of Gaziantep, Osmaniye and Kilis amid ongoing criticism that the government’s response has been too slow.

In addition to 12,873 people killed in Turkey, the country’s disaster management agency said more than 60,000 have been injured. On the Syrian side of the border, 3,162 have been reported dead and more than 5,000 injured.

Tens of thousands are thought to have lost their homes.

Experts said the survival window for those trapped under the rubble or otherwise unable to obtain basic necessities was closing rapidly. At the same time, they said, it is too soon to abandon hope.

The death toll from earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria this week neared 16,000, as hopes faded of many people being found alive 72 hours since the disaster and frustration simmered over the slow delivery of aid.

A Turkish official said the disaster posed “very serious difficulties” to holding an election scheduled for May 14 in which President Tayyip Erdogan has been expected face the toughest challenge in his two decades in power.

On the ground, many people in Turkey and Syria spent a third night sleeping outside or in cars in freezing winter temperatures, their homes destroyed or so shaken by the quakes they were too afraid to re-enter.

The earthquake, which struck in the dead of night and was followed by powerful aftershocks, is on course to be Turkey’s deadliest since 1999, when a similarly powerful tremor killed more than 17,000.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva expressed solidarity with those affected by devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Finance Minister Sitharaman also conveyed India’s immediate support extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the deployment of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and medical teams under Operation Dost. The Finance Minister’s official Twitter handle posted about the virtual meeting with the IMF MD in a series of tweets on Thursday.

In a virtual meeting, Finance Minister Sitharaman and IMF MD Georgieva were discussing the upcoming G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting scheduled to be held in Bengaluru later this month.

During the meeting, Georgieva congratulated India on its strong economic performance in challenging global times as well as its role at the forefront of digitalisation of the economy, especially in the area of digital payments.

Sitharaman also thanked the IMF for the support that it had been providing to the G20 Indian Presidency on various work streams under the G20 Finance Track.

The European Union will work with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to get aid to both opposition- and government-controlled areas of Syria, an EU official said Wednesday, after Syria’s government lodged a formal request for aid with the bloc two days after a catastrophic earthquake. The bloc, a major donor of humanitarian aid to Syria, said it was committed to helping Syrians despite the fact that it has placed the authoritarian president, Bashar Assad, and some sectors of the Syrian economy under strict sanctions.

“Sanctions do not prohibit the export of food, medicines or medical equipment to Syria,” said Balazs Ujvari, a spokesperson for the European Commission, adding that EU sanctions were designed with exceptions for humanitarian aid in mind. “The EU is committed to avoid, and where unavoidable to mitigate, any negative unintended impact of sanctions,” Ujvari said. “The EU’s number-one priority is to save lives” in both Syria and Turkey, he added.

For years, the people of Aleppo bore the brunt of bombardment and fighting when their city, once Syria’s largest and most cosmopolitan, was among the civil war’s fiercest battle zones. Even that didn’t prepare them for the new devastation and terror wreaked by this week’s earthquake. The natural disaster piled on many human-made ones, multiplying the suffering in Aleppo and Syria more broadly.

Fighting largely halted in Aleppo in 2016, but only a small number of the numerous damaged and destroyed buildings had been rebuilt. The population has also more recently struggled with Syria’s economic downslide, which has sent food prices soaring and residents thrown into poverty.

The shock of the quake is all too much. Hovig Shehrian said that during the worst of the war in Aleppo, in 2014, he and his parents fled their home in a front-line area because of the shelling and sniper fire. For years, they moved from neighborhood to neighborhood to avoid the fighting.

Oil edged up in early trade, extending gains for a fourth consecutive day, as crude loading disruptions in Turkey and optimism over China’s recovering demand continued to buoy sentiment. Brent crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.2% to $85.26 a barrel by 0239 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures firmed 11 cents, or 0.2% higher, to $78.58 a barrel. Both benchmarks have gained more than 6% so far this week.

BP Azerbaijan declared force majeure on Azeri crude shipments from the Turkish port of Ceyhan on Feb.7 after a massive earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early on Monday. The disaster had halted operations at Ceyhan and disrupted crude oil flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan.

Hopes for a quick rebound in demand from China also supported oil prices as the world’s second-largest oil consumer ended more than three years of a stringent zero-COVID policy involving city-wide lockdowns and mass testing in December.

Access to Twitter in Turkey has been restored, the Netblocks internet observatory said on Thursday, following talks between the company and Turkish authorities about content posted after a major earthquake this week. Access to Twitter was restricted on Wednesday, sparking protested by political opposition figures, academics and activists, two days after the quake hit the country and northern Syria, claiming thousands of lives.

“Metrics confirm access to Twitter is being restored in Turkey following hours of filtering,” NetBlocks said on its Twitter account.

Turkey’s Deputy Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Omer Fatih Sayan said that in talks with Twitter management, he had reminded Twitter of its responsibilities and had conveyed expectation of cooperation on fighting disinformation as earthquake relief work continues.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President William Lai will each donate a month’s salary for Turkish earthquake relief efforts, the presidential office said on Thursday, adding to existing aid already sent by the island.

Tsai and Lai, who is widely expected to stand for the presidency in elections due next year, “hope to do their part to help Turkey rebuild its homeland as soon as possible”, the presidential office said in a statement.

Turkey, like most countries, has no diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but the two maintain de facto embassies in each other’s capitals and there are direct flights between Istanbul and Taipei.

Tsai visited the de facto Turkish embassy in Taipei on Thursday to sign a book of condolence, writing: “My heart goes with our Turkish friends. Taiwan stands with Türkiye!”, according to her office.

Last year, Tsai and Lai also both donated one month’s salary to aid humanitarian relief efforts for war-torn Ukraine. Tsai earns around T$400,000 ($13,300) a month.

Hospitals in Azerbaijan are ready to receive those injured in the the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week, President Ilham Aliyev announced. “Our hospitals have all the conditions for the treatment of our wounded brothers and sisters,” said the President, as he visited the Turkish Embassy in Baku on Wednesday to offer his condolences, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Beds have already been allocated in Baku and other cities, including the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and if necessary, we are ready to bring in patients,” Aliyev told the Turkish Ambassador after signing a book of condolence at the mission.

He said doctors, rescuers and volunteers are being sent to Turkey, and humanitarian aid campaigns are launched by ordinary people, public organisations and private companies in Azerbaijan to help those affected by the quakes.

A Lebanese ministerial delegation has arrived in Damascus to discuss with Syrian officials more possible assistance for the quake-hit country. The multi-partisan delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who according to local media reports, expressed gratitude to Lebanon for the aid, reports Xinhua news agency.

The delegation also met Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad. A Lebanese delegation of the Lebanese Red Cross, Beirut Fire Brigade, Civil Defense, Disaster Management units and the Lebanese army travelled to Syria to assist the country in post-quake rescue work.

The death toll from earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria this week passed 15,000 amid anger from those left destitute and frustrated over the slow arrival of rescue teams.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who contests an election in May, said on a visit to the disaster zone on Wednesday that operations were now working normally and promised no one would be left homeless.

Across a swathe of southern Turkey, people sought temporary shelter and food in freezing winter weather, and waited in anguish by piles of rubble where family and friends might still lie buried.

The confirmed death toll in Turkey rose to 12,391 by Thursday morning, the Disaster Management Authority said, up more than 30% on Wednesday’s toll.

Rescuers were still finding some people alive. But many Turks have complained of a lack of equipment, expertise and support to rescue those trapped – sometimes even as they could hear cries for help.

Condolences and offers of aid have poured in, including from the European Union, the United Nations, NATO, Washington, China and Russia.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is planning to host a donor conference in March.

President Joe Biden promised his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the United States will send “any and all” aid needed.

But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would work with partners to provide aid in Syria and not the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which is under Western sanctions over alleged humanitarian abuses during his country’s nearly 12-year civil war.

Syria, which has only been offered minimal assistance because of the sanctions, on Wednesday made an official plea to the EU for help.

The UN’s resident Syria coordinator, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, called for the facilitation of aid access to rebel-held areas in Syria’s northwest, warning that relief stocks will soon be depleted.

The European Commission is “encouraging” EU member countries to respond to Syria’s request for medical supplies and food, said the commissioner, Janez Lenarcic.

The World Health Organization said up to 23 million people could be affected by the earthquake and promised long-term assistance.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 77 national and 13 international emergency medical teams were deploying to the affected areas.

Some of the heaviest devastation occurred near the quake’s epicentre between Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep, where entire city blocks lay in ruins.

Turkey said almost 3,000 buildings had collapsed in seven different provinces, including public hospitals.

A famous mosque dating back to the 13th century partially collapsed in the province of Maltaya, where a 14-story building with 28 apartments that housed 92 people collapsed.

Social media posts showed a 2,200-year-old hilltop castle built by Roman armies in Gaziantep lying in ruins, its walls partially turned to rubble.

In Syria, the health ministry reported damage across the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus, where Russia is leasing a naval facility.

The UN’s cultural body UNESCO warned that two sites on its World Heritage List, the old city of Syria’s Aleppo and the fortress in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, had sustained damage and that several others may also have been hit.

It noted that the quake occurred in one of the longest continuously inhabited areas on the planet within the so-called Fertile Crescent, which has witnessed the emergence of different civilisations from the Hittites to the Ottomans.

Even before the tragedy, buildings in Aleppo often toppled due to poor infrastructure and many are dilapidated after more than a decade of war.

The sixth plane from India carrying rescue personnel, essentials and medical equipment for earthquake relief efforts have reached Turkey, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said. The sixth flight carries more rescue teams, dog squads, and essential medicines for the quake- hit country.

Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar wrote, “The sixth #OperationDost flight reaches Turkiye. More search and rescue teams, dog squads, essential search & access equipment, medicines and medical equipment ready for deployment in the relief efforts.”

On his official Twitter handle, the EAM posted pictures of a field hospital in Turkey where medical experts are preparing to treat emergencies.

Following the deadly earthquakes on February 6 the death toll in Turkey and adjoining Syria have surpassed 15,000 lives in both countries.

The president of Turkey acknowledged “shortcomings” in his country’s response to the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade as hope dwindled that more survivors would emerge from the rubble of thousands of toppled buildings.

With the confirmed death toll approaching 12,000, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people died and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Residents there have criticized the government’s efforts, saying rescuers were slow to arrive.

Erdogan, who faces a tough battle for reelection in May, reacted to the mounting frustration by acknowledging problems with the emergency response to Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake but said the winter weather had been a factor. The earthquake also destroyed the runway at Hatay’s airport, further disrupting the response.

“It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster,” Erdogan said. “We will not leave any of our citizens uncared for.” He also hit back at critics, saying “dishonorable people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s actions.

Criticism of Turkey’s earthquake response mounted on Wednesday, with the political opposition and people in the disaster zone accusing the government of a tardy and inadequate relief effort.

The anger grew louder as President Tayyip Erdogan, facing a tight election in three months time, visited the afflicted area for the first time and acknowledged some problems with the initial response.

Monday’s quakes have killed more than 11,000 people across southern Turkey and northwest Syria. They cracked infrastructure and flattened thousands of buildings, causing hardship for millions and leaving many homeless in bitterly cold weather.

“Where is the state? Where have they been for two days? We are begging them. Let us do it, we can get them out,” said Sabiha Alinak, near a snow covered collapsed building where her young relatives were trapped in the city of Malatya.

With the death toll climbing after the deadliest earthquake in over a decade brought massive destruction to parts of Turkey and Syria, rescue crews are holding fast to an increasingly slim hope of finding survivors.

This gallery shows the most compelling scenes from a devastating earthquake that hit southeast Turkey and northern Syria on Monday. The confirmed death toll from the magnitude 7.8 quake had surpassed 11,000 by Wednesday.

Search teams from around the world are joining tens of thousands of local emergency personnel, but the scale of the destruction has been so immense and spread over such a wide area — including a region isolated by Syria’s ongoing civil war — that many people were still awaiting help.

With unstable piles of metal and concrete, the searches are perilous. Adding to the worries are growing concerns about the amount of time trapped people could survive in the cold.