The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have now claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people.
Freezing temperatures have added to the misery of the tragedy with tens of thousands left without homes.
Rescuers are now racing against time to save countless thousands of others understood to be still trapped under rubble.
The chances of finding them are getting slimmer by the hour.
The death toll from Monday’s 7.8-magnitude quake is expected to rise sharply as rescue efforts near the 72-hour mark that disaster experts consider the most likely period to save lives.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday conceded “shortcomings” after criticism of his government’s response to the massive earthquake, which is one of the deadliest this century.
Survivors have been left to scramble for food and shelter – and in some cases watch helplessly as their relatives called for rescue, and eventually went silent under the debris.
Still, rescuers kept pulling survivors from the debris, even as the death toll continued to rise.
Mr Erdogan visited one of the hardest-hit spots, quake epicentre Kahramanmaras, and acknowledged problems in the response.
“Of course, there are shortcomings. The conditions are clear to see. It’s not possible to be ready for a disaster like this,” he said.
