A member of the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer force also known as the White Helmets, carries a child rescued from the rubble in Idlib province. (Abdulaziz Ketaz / AFP - Getty Images) A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey on Monday, killing more than 1,300 people in the country and neighboring Syria and leaving scores more trapped in the rubble as another huge quake hit the region. Residents joined rescuers to search for survivors in freezing conditions, with the death toll expected to rise as the level of destruction became clear from the initial powerful pre-dawn temblor. Just hours later, a 7.5-magnitude quake hit the same area, raising the specter of a new humanitarian crisis in a region devastated by years of conflict. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the death toll had reached at least 912 people in his country alone, with 5,385 more wounded. In Syria, where around 4 million people had been displaced by nearly 12 years of civil war, hundreds more were crushed to death in buildings already destroyed or weakened by bombardment. Follow our blog for live updates, and read the full story here. |