Death toll from major earthquake in Syria and Turkey exceeds 1,300

 

At least 912 people were killed in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck early Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, sharply revising earlier figures.

With at least 326 people killed in government-held areas of Syria, this brings the death toll from the region's most powerful shock in nearly a century to more than 1,300.

Erdogan said it was the country's biggest disaster since 1939, adding that 2,818 buildings had collapsed as a result.

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, killing more than 1,300 people, injuring thousands more and triggering a frantic search for survivors trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.