Turkey-Syria earthquake leaves over 17,500 people dead, rescue ops hampered amid bitter cold

Bitter cold hampered the four-day search of thousands of flattened buildings raising alarm that the 72-hour mark that experts consider the most likely period to save lives has passed.

Turkey's disaster management agency, AFAD, said 12,391 people were killed and 62,914 others were injured in Monday’s quakes centered in Kahramanmaras province.

Other provinces in southern and eastern Turkey that were affected by the quakes are Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

More than 6,000 buildings collapsed due to the 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude quakes that occurred in the space of less than 10 hours.

Turkey has taken action with all its institutions and resources since the deadly earthquakes in its southern provinces, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

"We have mobilized all our resources. The state is working with municipalities, especially AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency), with all its means," Erdogan said as he inspected relief efforts in Kahramanmaras.

More than 13 million people have been impacted by the quakes.

For search and rescue operations to be carried out rapidly, Turkey on Tuesday announced a three-month state of emergency in the quake-hit provinces.

In addition, the country is observing seven days of national mourning after the devastating quakes.

All national sports events in the country have been suspended until further notice.

Schools nationwide will be closed until Feb. 13, and education in the 10 affected provinces is on hold until Feb. 20.

After the quakes, condolences poured in from around the world expressing solidarity with Türkey, with many countries sending rescue teams and aid.