Turkey has declared seven days of mourning after at least 1,650 people died following two earthquakes which struck the country today.
“A national mourning period has been declared for seven days. Our flag will be hoisted at half-mast until sunset on Sunday, 12 February 2023, in all our national and foreign representative offices,” tweeted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It comes after Turkish government officials reported another 1,651 fatalities, putting the combined total in Turkey and neighboring Syria to 2,651.
Dozens of nations have pledged aid since the 7.8-magnitude quake, which hit as people were still sleeping and in freezing weather that has hampered emergency efforts.
Multi-storey apartment buildings full of residents were among the 3,400 structures reduced to rubble in Turkey, while Syria announced dozens of collapses, as well as damage to archaeological sites in Aleppo.
