The deadly earthquake that hit southern Turkey and Northern Syria has now claimed the lives of nearly 20,000, making it one of the deadliest quakes of our time.
Most of the deaths were found in Turkey, with the death toll reaching 16,546 as of latest figures.
The death toll in Syria has now hit 3,577.
Here’s more via CBS News:
Rescuers pulled more survivors from beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings Thursday but hopes were starting to fade of finding many more people alive more than three days after catastrophic earthquakes and a series of aftershocks hit Turkey and Syria, killing more than 20,000 people.
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey confirmed Thursday that at least three Americans were among the dead in that nation.
The quake that razed thousands of buildings was one of the deadliest worldwide in more than a decade, with the deaths surpassing even the toll from the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, that triggered a tsunami, killing more than 18,400.
Experts said the survival window for those trapped under the rubble or otherwise unable to obtain basic necessities was closing rapidly. At the same time, they said it was too soon to abandon hope.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that 16,546 people were killed in his nation and more than 66,000 injured. On the Syrian side of the border, 3,577 have been reported dead and more than 6,300 injured, bringing the death toll in the two countries to over 19,700.
Risklayer, which describes itself as a “transparent and independent collaborative catastrophe risk firm in Germany and Australia,” tweeted Wednesday that it projects the number of dead could wind up topping 45,000.
20,000 deaths is a staggering number and the sad thing is, if Risklayer is right, it’s only going to get much higher as teams dig through the rubble.