A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria at 4:17 AM, followed by a second earthquake of 7.5 magnitude and aftershocks. Many buildings collapsed killing many and injuring thousands.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says, “912 people were killed, 5,383 injured, and 2,818 buildings had collapsed… We do not know how high the number of dead and injured will go. Our hope is to get through this disaster with the least loss,” he said in a speech. “This is the biggest disaster we’ve experienced in the last century after the 1939 Erzincan earthquake,” he added, citing an incident in which more than 32,000 people were killed in eastern Turkey. In Syria, the Health Ministry said more than 326 people had been killed and 1,042 injured. In the Syrian rebel-held north-west, rescuers said 147 people had died.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Omar Haj Kadour/Getty Images

Collapsed buildings in a village in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

Turkey also requested international aid and the European Union said it was urgently dispatching search and rescue teams from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania to Turkey to help. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says it is “launching immediate cash assistance” from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund to help relief efforts in both countries (Donation Link). More than 7,800 people were rescued across 10 provinces, according to Orhan Tatar, an official with Turkey’s disaster management authority. But at least 2,316 people were killed and more than 13,000 injured, according to Turkish authorities.  In Turkey alone, more than 5,600 buildings were destroyed.

More information is being updated constantly, and please donate to help the people in Turkey and Syria.