UPDATE: Death toll surpasses 12,000 across Turkiyë and Syria, and expected to reach 20,000. 52,979 people injured.
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At least 3,500 people confirmed dead after 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey.
Numbers are expected to increase rapidly amid desperate search and rescue efforts following the two quakes.
Over 13,000 people have been injured in the devastating earthquake. Over 7000 people have been rescued so far.
AusRelief and MUSIAD are working with the Turkish Red Crescent to provide relief to the communities affected by the earthquake.
The earthquake is believed to be the strongest to hit Turkey since 1939, when an earthquake of the same magnitude killed 30,000 people, according to the USGS.
Search and rescue teams have been dispatched in South Turkey. Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu says AFAD has put forward a fourth level alarm and has requested international help through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).
Houses have been destroyed in a series of aftershocks, with the strongest being of 6.7 magnitude.
Dozens of people are still trapped under rubble.
Gaziantep, the province most affected, is a poor area with a sizeable refugee population. The earthquake has had and will continue to have a devastating impact on these communities.
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