Turkey’s president on Tuesday acknowledged “shortcomings” in his country’s response to the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade as hopes waned that more survivors would emerge from the rubble of thousands of buildings.
With the confirmed death toll nearing 12,000, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the particularly badly affected Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people were killed and entire neighborhoods destroyed. Residents criticized the government’s efforts, saying there was a delay in the arrival of rescue teams.
Mr Erdogan, who faces an uphill battle for re-election in May, responded to growing frustration by acknowledging problems with the emergency response to Monday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake, but said winter Weather was a factor. The earthquake also destroyed the runway at Hatay’s airport, further hampering the response.
Erdogan said, “It is not possible to be prepared for such a disaster. We will not leave any of our citizens without care.” He also hit back at critics, saying “unscrupulous people” were spreading “lies and slander” about the government’s actions.
Turkish officials said they were targeting disinformation, and an Internet monitoring group said access to Twitter was restricted despite survivors using it to alert rescuers.
Meanwhile, rescue teams in Turkey and Syria searched for signs of life in the wreckage. Teams from more than two dozen countries have joined thousands of local emergency workers in this effort. But the scale of the devastation caused by the earthquake and its powerful aftershocks was so vast and spread over such a large area that many people were still waiting for help.
Experts said the window of escape for those trapped under the rubble or unable to meet basic needs is fast closing. At the same time, he said that it is too early to give up hope.
“The first 72 hours are considered critical,” said Steven Godby, a natural hazards expert at Nottingham Trent University in England. “The median survival ratio is 74% within 24 hours, 22% after 72 hours and 6% on the fifth day.”
Rescue workers sometimes used excavators or picked carefully through the rubble. After thousands of buildings were destroyed, it was not clear how many people may still be in the rubble.
In the Turkish city of Malatya, bodies were laid side by side on the ground and covered in blankets while rescue workers waited for vehicles to pick them up, according to former journalist Ozel Pickel, who said he had recovered eight bodies. Saw pulled out of the ruins of a building.
Mr Pickel, who took part in the rescue effort, said he thought at least some of the victims died of the cold as the temperature dropped to minus 6 degrees Celsius (21 Fahrenheit).
“As of today, there is no hope left in Malatya,” Mr. Pickel said by telephone. “Nobody is coming out of the rubble alive.”
He said the closure of roads and damage in the area made it difficult to reach all areas where help was needed, and there was a shortage of rescue workers where he was.
“Our hands can’t lift anything because of the cold,” said Mr. Pickle. “Working machines are needed.”
The region was already beset by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. Millions have been displaced within Syria and millions have taken refuge in Turkey.
Turkey’s president said the death toll in the country had crossed 9,000. The Syrian health ministry said the death toll in government-held areas had exceeded 1,200. At least 1,600 people have been killed in the rebel-held northwest, according to volunteer first responders known as White Helmets.
This brought the total to about 12,000. Thousands more are injured.
Rescue stories continued to provide hope that some people still trapped might be found alive. A crying newborn attached to its dead mother’s umbilical cord was rescued in Syria on Monday. In Kahramanmaras, Turkey, rescuers pulled a 3-year-old child from the rubble, and rescuers dispatched by the Israeli military rescued a 2-year-old.
But David Alexander, a professor of emergency planning and management at University College London, said data from past earthquakes showed the chances of survival were now slim, especially for individuals who were seriously injured.
“Statistically, today is the day we stop finding people,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we should stop exploring.”
Mr Alexander cautioned that the final death toll may not be known for weeks because of the sheer volume of debris.
The last time an earthquake killed so many people was in 2015, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed 8,800 people in Nepal. The 2011 earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami that killed about 20,000 people.
Many of the earthquake survivors lost their homes and in some areas were forced to sleep in cars, government shelters or outside amid rain and snowfall.
“We don’t have a tent, we don’t have a heating stove, we don’t have anything. Our children are in bad shape,” said 27-year-old Aisen Kurt. “We won’t die of hunger or the earthquake, we’ll freeze to death.”
Some families started mourning their dead. In the Turkish city of Gaziantep, 21-year-old Mustafa Sonmez was buried on Wednesday by relatives who rushed to Kahramanmaras to save him.
“May God have mercy on those who died. I wish patience for the survivors,” said relative Mustafa Kemaz.
The disaster comes at a sensitive time for Erdogan, who is facing an economic downturn and high inflation. The perception that his government mismanaged the crisis could damage his standing. He said the government would distribute 10,000 Turkish lira ($532) to the affected families.
Turkey’s main opposition party leader Kemal Kilikdaroglu blamed the catastrophe on Erdogan’s two decades of rule, saying he had not prepared the country for a disaster and accused him of squandering funds.
In their effort to crack down on misinformation related to the earthquake response, police said they have detained 18 people and identified over 200 social media accounts suspected of “spreading fear and panic” .
Global internet monitor Netblocks said that several internet providers have restricted access to Twitter in Turkey. Trapped survivors have used Twitter to alert rescuers and loved ones, while others have taken to social networks to criticize the government’s response.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said a government official held a video conference with a Twitter executive to remind him of the company’s responsibilities over disinformation and obligations under a tough new social media law.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted, “We’re reaching out to understand more.”
The government has, from time to time, restricted access to social media during national emergencies and terror attacks, citing national security.
In Syria, aid efforts have been hampered by ongoing war and the isolation of rebel-held territory along the border, which is surrounded by Russia-backed government forces. Syria itself is an international pariah under Western sanctions tied to the war.
Ahmad Idris, a Syrian now living in Saraqib after being displaced by the war, wept as he looked at the bodies of 25 members of his family.
“We have come here on the basis of finding a safe haven for ourselves and our children,” he said. “But in the end, look how luck has favored us here.”