Turkey, Syria earthquake death toll reaches 4,600

Syrian Civil Defense workers and security forces search through the wreckage of collapsed buildings, in Aleppo, Syria, on Monday February 6, 2023. A powerful earthquake rocked wide swaths of Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing and injuring thousands of people. [Omar Sanadiki, AP]

Rescuers raced Tuesday to rescue survivors from the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to 4,600.

Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, but a day after the earthquake struck the number of emergency crews on the ground remained few, with their efforts impeded by frigid temperatures and close to 200 aftershocks, which made the search through unstable structures perilous.