TheCable

More than 1,300 people have died in Turkey and Syria after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey early Monday.

TheCable had reported a death toll of at least 400 people and about 2,000 others injured earlier in the day.

Hundreds of buildings were completely destroyed in the quake, with tremors felt as far as Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt.

Hours later, there had been reports of major tremors in the affected region.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre confirmed that a second earthquake of at least 7.5 magnitude hit Turkey.

The earthquake came as the middle eastern country is experiencing a snowstorm that is expected to continue until Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, displaced by the war in their home country, are settled in the regions of Turkey that have been worst hit by this morning’s earthquake.

Turkey shelters more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, according to data from Human Rights Watch.

So far, the Turkish government has received offers of assistance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and 45 countries including embattled Ukraine.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan said rescue teams have rescued over 2,400 people from under the rubble of buildings flattened by the quake, the worst to hit the country in 100 years.