Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll passes 7,000, WHO expects it to rise

More than 7,000 people are reported dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday. The earthquake is believed to be one of the most powerful to hit the region in 80 years.

Dramatic footage shows the moment entire buildings began crumbling to the ground, with children being pulled out from the rubble and people running for cover. One video showed a newborn baby girl being rushed to safety. A relative said the baby’s mother went into labor soon after the disaster and gave birth before she died. Her father, four siblings and an aunt were also killed as reported by BBC.

According to Turkish officials, more than 5,700 buildings have been destroyed in the region, which is notably home to hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled war-torn Syria. Among the buildings destroyed was the Gaziantep Castle, a historic landmark that has stood for more than 2,000 years through the Roman and Byzantine empires.

Experts attribute the severity of the earthquakes to Turkey’s Anatolian Fault System. The country’s two main fault zones in the North and the East make it one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

The U.S., Russia and dozens of other governments have already rushed to dispatch aid to help with the rescue operations in Turkey with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan saying that 70 countries had offered to assist in search and rescue operations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the number of casualties could exceed 20,000 people.