Turkey earthquakes – latest news: British crews join rescue effort in Turkey as death toll tops 16,000

A series of powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey have likely moved the entire country by upto six metres, according to Italian seismologist Carlo Doglioni.

Two major earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.5 jolted southern Turkey and northern Syria and killed over 15,000 people. Rescuers have been searching through the rubble for more bodies.

The Turkish disaster management agency said 12,391 people had so far been confirmed to have died in the country, while on the other side of the border in Syria, another 2,902 bodies have been recovered.

Temperatures in Turkey dropped to minus five degrees early on Thursday as thousands of people spent the night in makeshift shelters and cars following this week’s devastating earthquakes.

Rescue and relief workers continued to comb through the rubble as people feared going back to their homes.

Authorities in the Turkish city of Gaziantep have asked thousands of residents to stay away from their homes, fearing aftershocks from the earthquakes.

“When we sit down, it is painful, and I fear for anyone who is trapped under the rubble in this,” said Melek Halici, who wrapped her two-year-old daughter in a blanket as they watched rescuers working late into the night.

The total number to have died has now reached 16,000 – it has been reported.

The first 7.8-magnitude quake hit the Turkish city of Gaziantep in the early hours of Monday, reducing thousands of homes and buildings across the south of the country and northern Syria to rubble as people slept. A series of aftershocks has left tens of thousands injured and survivors are feared trapped under thousands of collapsed buildings.

Relief efforts have been hampered by damaged infrastructure, freezing winter temperatures and limited medical facilities.

Labour MP David Lammy told Sky News he was aware of issues of corruption within Turkey.

“Today it is about saving the lives of those who remain, tomorrow and next week it’s about the bitter temperatures and how you house, clothe and feed people, and then it is about the reconstruction effort,” he said. “Yes there are questions about how the nature of democracy works… but my principle concern must be the humanitarian effort that is taking place.”

Around 70 members of the UK International Search and Rescue Team have arrived in Turkey to assist with the search operation as the death toll from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake approached 12,000.

The team of volunteers, which included firefighters, medics, engineers and vets, was joined by crews from at least 24 countries.

UK International Search and Rescue team coordinator Mark Davey said it had taken a lot of organisation to get to Antakya, in the Hatay province, due to the amount of destruction caused to basic infrastructure.

“Transportation is very difficult here, so it took a lot of organisation to get enough vehicles to bring us,” he told the Associated Press.

“It took a long while to get a lot of the equipment over here on the vehicles, on buses. (We had) a lot of help from the local people as well – from bus companies.”

We are pausing live coverage for now. The blog will be back tomorrow with the latest updates on the earthquakes that have caused devastation in Turkey and Syria.

Turkish and Syrian families in the UK fear for their loved ones after the deadly earthquakes that devastated both countries on Monday.

The initial 7.8 magnitude tremor is the worst to hit Turkey since 1999 with a death toll of more than 11,000 so far.

Rim Turkmani has relatives and friends in Aleppo, Syria, but doesn’t yet know if all have survived the natural disaster. Those that have are forced to lie down on cold streets as there is nowhere to seek shelter and going indoors is not safe, she told the Independent.

Two children lodged under the concrete remains of their home in earthquake-struck Syria have been rescued after enduring a freezing 36-hour wait.

Mariam, the elder sibling, is seen gently stroking her younger brother’s head as they lie wedged between what appears to be the remains of their bed and a collapsed concrete wall after Monday’s devastating tremor.

She is able to move her arm just enough to cover her brother’s face, offering some protection from the great clouds of dust billowing from the cluster of fallen buildings.

They lifted slabs of cement with enormous cranes and smashed rubble with jackhammers. Then, they stopped.

Silence. Key to detecting the faintest noise that could be the sign of a survivor buried beneath rubble from Monday’s quake in Turkey and Syria.

Among the wreckage of a collapsed 14-story building in the Turkish city of Adana, the shriek of an whistle pierced the noise every few minutes on Wednesday. Rescue workers hollered for quiet, and listened for any hint of voices from the debris. Hundreds of people watching hushed.