Feb 06 (AIR News): The combined death toll due to massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has risen to over two thousand while several thousands of people are injured in the region.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck at 4:17 am local time in Gaziantep about 90 kilometres from the Syrian border while people were asleep. The region houses millions of refugees from the Syrian civil war.
Turkey's disaster management agency said, the death toll in the country from the morning's earthquake has risen to 1,498.
Syrian authorities confirmed the death of 810 people and more than 2,000 injured.
Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus and Israel felt the earthquake.
Authorities said, at least 20 aftershocks followed the first massive quake. Hours later, a second giant earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck more than 60 miles away in southeastern Turkey's Kahramanmaras region.
The deadly earthquake led to the toppling of hundreds of buildings.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, 2,818 buildings collapsed in today's quake, calling it is his country's largest disaster since 1939.
Hundreds of people were still believed to be trapped under rubble, and the toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the region.
India and other countries along with international organisations are rushing aid to the earthquake-hit region.
The Government of India has decided to immediately dispatch search and rescue teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and medical teams along with relief material to Turkey. The relief measures will be taken up in coordination with the government of Türkey. The decision was taken in a meeting held by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr. P. K. Mishra in New Delhi today in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions to offer all possible assistance and relief measures to the victims of the earthquake there.
Two teams of NDRF comprising 100 personnel with specially trained dog squads and necessary equipment are ready to be flown to the earthquake-hit area for search and rescue operations. 
Medical teams are also being readied with trained doctors and paramedics with essential medicines. Relief material will be dispatched in coordination with the government of Türkey and the Indian Embassy in Ankara and the Consulate General office in Istanbul.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the Earthquake in Turkey and Syria.  In a tweet, Mr Modi said, India is committed to provide assistance and support in this difficult time.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said its network of emergency medical teams has been activated to provide essential health care for the injured and most vulnerable affected by the earthquake.