Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday that his government is doing everything possible to help survivors and rescue workers in the aftermath of massive earthquakes.
Erdogan visited the center city of Kahramanmaras along with the Pazarcik district and Hatay, some of the hardest-hit areas. The death toll has surpassed 15,000, with the the latest total in Turkey at 12,397, according to the state-run Andalou News Agency, while figures for Syria are at about 3,000.
The humanitarian Syria Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said it has counted more than 1,730 dead in areas the Syrian government does not control because of civil war, while the ministry of health under the President Bashar al-Assad government have reported 1,262 deaths.
"We have mobilized all our resources," Erdogan said, according to Andalou New Agency. "The state is working with municipalities, especially AFAD [Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency], with all its means."
Erdogan pledged each family impacted by Monday's quakes would receive $530 from the government, adding that Turkey would launch "mass housing operations" in the 10 hardest-hit provinces by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Erdogan said his government is contracting with hotels in unaffected areas to take in those left homeless by the earthquake.
"Our citizens should not worry; we will never allow them to stay on the street," Erdogan said.
Three days after the earthquakes hit, Emergency crews continued to dig through rubble from toppled structures, some with little sleep, in hopes of finding survivors and recovering bodies.
"The situation is tragic in every sense of the word," Asim Al-Yahya, a White Helmets volunteer, said.
Hundreds of families remained under rubble, Al-Yahya said but there has been "a great shortage of search and rescue equipment" in Syria.
Pentagon Press Secretary Gen. Pat Ryder said the U.S. State Department has mobilized first responders to aid in Turkey during a briefing Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Defense is also sending two civilian search and rescue teams.
"Again, we offer our sincere condolences and will stand with our ally Turkiye as they work to save lives and recover from this horrific disaster," Ryder said.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its powerful aftershocks caused significant and widespread damage in Turkey and Syria, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa. The White Helmets said four of its volunteers were among the dead.
Both Turkey and Syria have called on the International community for help -- cries that have been met with a mass deployment of thousands of search and rescue works as well as aid, but United Nations officials are warning little of that humanitarian assistance is making it into Syria.
El-Mostafa Benlamlih, resident and humanitarian coordinator ad interim for Syria at the United Nations, described the situation to reporters during a press conference on Wednesday as a crisis on top of a crisis that is rolling back any advancement that has been made in the war-torn country.
"The achievements we had before, any body who had that small business now has lost that small business, any body who could go to school cannot go to school, women who could go to protection centers cannot go to protection centers," he said. "It's a terrible situation."
The U.N. refugee agency as recently as Jan. 30 said 15.3 million people in the country, an increase of 5% from a year earlier, were in need of humanitarian assistance.
That number, Benlamlih said, will now need to be revised.
Because of the temblors, 30,000 people in Aleppo city alone were living in shelters, but Benlamlih described them as the "lucky ones" compared to some 70,000 now made homeless.
One-third of the city's houses, equivalent to some 20,000 houses, were damaged or destroyed, he said.
The U.N. officials spoke remotely to reporters in New York City from Damascus where they said they had snow, but it did not compare to the situation those in northeast and possibly also northwest Syria who were impacted by the earthquake.
"There, they have snow, they have freezing cold weather and they are living in terrible situation," he said.
Both Turkey and Syria have called on the international community for assistance -- cries that were met with the deployment of thousands of search-and-rescue personnel and humanitarian aid.
However, little of the humanitarian aid has made it into Syria.
"Honestly, this is that last thing the Syrian people needed and we were struggling for years and years to meet their humanitarian needs even without this last catastrophe," Muhannad Hadi, regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis at the United Nations said.
"We find ourselves now in a very difficult position, fighting with time trying to reach people all over Syria."
The United Nations said Tuesday it will send $25 million to the region to spur more humanitarian aid. The fund from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund would help charities in both countries provide services to those in need.
"Martin Griffiths, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, says he wants to assure the people there that they are not alone and that the humanitarian community will support them every step of the way out of this crisis," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a briefing.
The weather is also playing a factor in rescue and recovery efforts, with freezing temperatures slowing operations and many survivors exposed because of heavily damaged infrastructure. Those who are trapped in the rubble have gone days without food and water and are facing a risk of hypothermia.
"We have to fight against the weather and the earthquake at the same time," said Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.
The World Health Organization said about 23 million people in the region were in need of aid.
