Turkey-Syria earthquake death toll tops 15,000

Rescue teams have continued searching for survivors buried in the rubble of thousands of buildings destroyed in Turkey and Syria by disastrous earthquakes that killed more than 15,000.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday visited a "tent city" in Kahramanmaras, where people forced from their homes are living.  He conceded "shortcomings" but vowed that no one would "be left in the streets."

Turkey now has tens of thousands of aid personnel in the quake zone, and search teams from about thirty countries have joined them. But with the damage so widespread, many are still waiting for help. And an unknown number of people are still trapped under the rubble.

The sprawling scale of the disaster that flattened thousands of buildings has swamped relief operations already hampered by freezing weather, AFP reported.

Survivors have been left to scramble for food and shelter -- and in some cases watch helplessly as their relatives called for rescue, and eventually went silent under the debris.

"My nephew, my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law's sister are in the ruins. They are trapped under the ruins and there is no sign of life," said Semire Coban, a kindergarten teacher, in Turkey's Hatay.

"We can't reach them. We are trying to talk to them, but they are not responding... We are waiting for help. It has been 48 hours now," she told AFP.

Still, searchers kept pulling survivors from the debris three days after the 7.8 magnitude quake that is already one of the deadliest this century, even as the death toll continues to rise.

MG