A spokesman for the Syrian Civil Defence, also know as the White Helmets, describes the situation in north-west Syria in the aftermath of a huge earthquake, and appeals to the international community to help.

A rescue operation is under way across much of southern Turkey and northern Syria, after two major quakes struck on Monday.

More than 2,000 people have died across both countries.

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

Image source, Reuters

The EU will convene a “crisis response” meeting on Monday night, after the earthquakes which impacted Turkey and Syria.

This evening’s discussion - in collaboration with the European Commission - will look to co-ordinate EU support measures.

Typically IPCR (integrated political crisis response) meetings involve the relevant EU institutions, "key actors" and any affected member states.

The bloc has already said it is mobilising search-and-rescue teams for Turkey - and providing emergency mapping services via its Copernicus satellite system.

Earlier, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell and the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said: "The EU is also ready to support those affected in Syria, which has also reported casualties, through its humanitarian assistance programmes.

"Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones and the brave first responders working to save lives."

Image source, UN

The United Nations General Assembly is meeting in New York to discuss its priorities for 2023.

Before the session began it held a minute of silence for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Earlier, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said teams from the United Nations are "on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance".

Fundanur Öztürk
BBC Türkçe, Ankara

Gökce Bay, who had a kidney transplant only on Sunday, was at the hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, with a drip attached to her arm.

“I was on the second floor of the hospital when the earthquake started. I don’t even remember how I pulled the drip off my arm," she says.

"It was so strong and I wanted to get out of the building. Everyone held on to each other to help, we all thought that we wouldn't be able to make it and die. When we made it to the street, all of us started crying.

“We survived but we were all in-patients and we were out in the very cold weather. I had a kidney operation only yesterday and now I am out with my flip flops under the rain, my feet are soaking wet. Not only me, some very old patients are out without any jackets or shoes."

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, at least 810 people have been killed in Syria as a result of Monday's earthquake in neighbouring Turkey, and we have more on where those people were:

• At least 430 people died and 1,315 were injured in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to its health ministry, the AFP news agency reports
• In rebel-held territory in the north-west, at least 380 were killed and more than 1,000 injured, according to the humanitarian group The White Helmets
• The organisation says more than 133 buildings have collapsed, and 272 are partially destroyed

The White Helmets, which operates in rebel-controlled areas of Syria, says the death toll may increase as "hundreds of families are still trapped".

Syria descended into civil war in 2011, which left half a million people dead and caused a lasting humanitarian crisis.

Israel has said it will send search and rescue and medical teams to both Turkey and Syria.

"This is what we do around the world and this is what we do in areas close to us," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said it was in response to a request from the Turkish government and one which was "also received to do this" for victims in Syria, without specifying the source.

Syria does not recognise Israel and the two countries have been in a state of war since 1948.

Israel and Turkey only restored diplomatic ties in August after Turkey broke off relations after a deadly incident in 2010.

Anna Foster
Reporting from Adana, Turkey

I'm on a busy main street in the southern city of Adana right next to a huge pile of rubble and debris from a building that has just completely collapsed on to its foundations.

The buildings either side are still standing, but police have just told me that they have concerns about another building close by they fear may be at risk of collapse.

They've moved people right back to the other side of the road, and they've put blue and white police tape to hold people back.

People have come to see this collapsed building and perhaps to get news of friends and loved ones - many people are just watching quietly the beginnings of this rescue operation.

I just watched a rescuer with a sniffer dog who walked on to the pile of rubble, using the dog to try and work out if there's anybody underneath.

You can see crushed metal, broken glass, and you can see where a whole floor of the building has slipped sideways - it looks reasonably intact and it's just pancaked down on to the floors below.

The rescue operation is continuing: I just watched a large digger with a hook and an earth mover to push the rubble away move in, and around 10 police officers have also arrived to try and secure the scene.

They're doing what they can with the sniffer dog and then they'll move in this large digger to try and move the pile of debris and work out what's underneath.

The death toll in Turkey from this morning's earthquake has risen again to 1,498, according to the country's disaster management agency.

The combined death toll from the initial quake in Turkey and Syria now stands at more than 2,300 after 810 people were confirmed dead in Syria, the AFP news agency reports.

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Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Residents of some of the cities hit by today's earthquakes have described the shock and fear of experiencing two such large tremors in quick succession.

Tulin Akkaya, who lives in Diyarbakir, around 180 miles east of where the quakes struck, said she was still trying to gather herself after the first quake when the second one hit.

"I am so scared. I felt [it] so strongly because I live on the top floor," she told the AFP news agency.

"We rushed outside in panic. I can't go back to my apartment now - I don't know what will happen next."

The epicentre of the first quake, which had a strength of 7.8, was near the city of Gaziantep, while that of the second, which measured 7.5, was around 80 miles north, in the Kahramanmaras province.

Melisa Salman, who is based in Kahramanmaras, said living in an earthquake zone meant she was used to "being shaken", but that today was "the first time we have ever experienced anything like that".

"We thought it was the apocalypse," she said.

Halis Aktemur, another Diyarbakir resident, was among the first to arrive on the scene after the collapse of the first large building in the city, and joined others helping to dig survivors from the rubble.

"We managed [to] save three people, but two were dead," he said. "After the second quake, I can't go anywhere. I am thinking they will need my help again."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences and pledged aid to both Turkey and Syria following today's earthquakes that has killed more than 1,900.

Putin told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: "We hope for a speedy recovery for all the injured and are ready to provide the assistance needed to overcome the impact of this natural disaster," AFP news reported.

In a message to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin asked him to "convey words of sincere sympathy and support" to the families of the victims and said Russia was "ready to provide required assistance".

Image source, Reuters

The death toll from the first earthquake has risen to 1,121 in Turkey, according to the country's disaster agency.

This brings the overall number of fatalities from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria to more than 1,900, as the latest figures from Syria estimate that 783 people have been confirmed dead.

The number of casualties is expected to continue rising as rescuers search for survivors.

It's unclear yet how many people died as a result of the second tremor - if any at all.

Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest developments.

Verified footage, that's emerged on social media, shows the moments the earthquake struck Turkey and Syria early this morning.

The "sheer magnitude" of the initial 7.8-magnitude quake today is larger than has been seen in Turkey for "hundreds of years", according to a professor of geophysics who studies seismic activity in the Middle East.

Speaking to Radio 5 Live's Naga Munchetty, Martin Mai from the King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia says there is currently "no way" to predict earthquakes.

"There was in the scientific community a hope and effort in the 1970s and 80s to say earthquakes can be predicted, all these theories ideas did not hold," he says, adding countries can't "predict" or "prevent" earthquakes - only "prepare".

Mai adds that the second earthquake on a separate fault line today was likely triggered by the first.

"This tectonic plate has been loaded over the last decades, or centuries, and probably it was ready to go and the earthquake this morning pushed it over the edge," he says.

Image source, .

Videos have emerged showing large fires bursting into the air in southern Turkey, with people claiming the earthquake has caused gas pipelines to burst and burn out of control, external.

Turkey’s energy minister Fatih Donmez said this morning that there had been serious damage to the country’s energy infrastructure, including gas pipelines near the epicentre, but he did not specifically mention explosions.

The BBC has verified one of the videos as being on the outskirts of the city of Hatay, 170km (105 miles) south-west of Gaziantep, where the earthquake struck.

In the video the tree lines and buildings match satellite images of the Amik valley near Hatay.

We also know there are gas and oil pipelines in the region from official maps.

Image source, Reuters

We're starting to hear more about the second earthquake which struck Turkey today.

Video from Reuters shows the moment a camera crew run away in panic as a building collapses, while they're live on air. A crashing sound follows, as well as huge clouds of dust.

The reporter, Yuksel Akalan, later said he and his team were in the city of Malatya filming the search and rescue effort when a building near him was "brought down to Earth".

In the video, screams can be heard as people run down the road. Mountains of rubble are seen once the dust settles slightly.

We'll continue to bring you more on this second quake as we get it.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, .

At least 1,700 people are believed to have died after two earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria.

The confirmed death toll from this morning's earthquake in Turkey has now risen to 1,014, the head of the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority has said.

The death toll in Syria now stands at 783, according to the AFP news agency, which has been combining figures from authorities in government-held areas with those from rescue group The White Helmets in rebel-held areas.

The figures bring the combined total to at least 1,797.

Information is still emerging about the impact of a second quake that hit Turkey's Kahramanmaras province just hours after the first struck near the city of Gaziantep, around 80 miles south.

At least 70 people had already been confirmed as killed in Kahramanmaras before the second quake hit. The current death tolls are expected to rise as recovery efforts continue.

The number of people in Syria who have died as a result of this morning's earthquake has risen to 783, according to figures cited by the AFP news agency.

This marks a significant jump and pushes the overall death toll in Syria and Turkey nearer to 2,000.

Turkey's death toll has also risen in the last hour to more than 1,000.

Both figures are likely to continue rising, we'll keep you updated as and when we find out more.

The leaders of countries around the world have pledged to send support to help rescue efforts in Turkey and Syria.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement: "My thoughts are with the people of Türkiye and Syria this morning, particularly with those first responders working so valiantly to save those trapped by the earthquake. The UK stands ready to help in whatever way we can."

French President Emmanuel Macron described the images coming from both countries as "terrible" and said France "stands ready to provide emergency aid", while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country mourned with the relatives of those killed and "will of course send help".

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the citizens of Turkey and said he had instructed "all authorities to prepare immediately to provide medical, rescue and rescue assistance".

The Indian government said that 100 disaster response personnel as well as specially-trained dog squads were ready to be flown to the areas affected, and that medical teams and supplies were also being prepared.

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was in touch with Turkey's President Erdogan and was "mobilising support".

Hatice Kamer
BBC Türkçe, Diyarbakır

Image source, Reuters

An old woman is wailing in Kurdish, waiting to hear from her sister-in-law and nieces and nephews who were stuck under the rubble.

Some young neighbours are trying to console her, saying: “They rescued a person a few minutes ago, they will rescue your family, too.”

She is not very hopeful since her family lived in the ground floor of the 12-storey building.

“They were on the ground floor, sleeping, I don’t know if anyone can reach them... and it is very cold, my babies will be frozen under the rubble," she says.

And all of a sudden, the crowd gets loud and clapping is heard. They reach someone under the rubble. It’s not her relatives but still she is glad someone is rescued. But soon enough they are confirmed dead, and a deep silence dominates the crowd.

It’s freezing cold, raining and because of the aftershocks, no one can go closer to their houses. Even though they left their houses in the middle of the night in a hurry... they are too afraid to go back home to pick up some jackets and shoes.

At least seven buildings collapsed in Diyarbakir, 33 people have been confirmed dead and 12 people were rescued from the rubble.