International desk – Rescuers are racing against time to find the survivors as more than 11,000 people have been confirmed dead in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the two countries on Monday also inuring tens of thousands of other people, with thousands of building collapsing.  

The aid agencies are particularly worried about northwestern Syria, where more than 4 million people were already relying on humanitarian assistance, according to cnn news.

Freezing weather conditions are further endangering survivors and complicating rescue efforts, as more than 100 aftershocks have struck the region.

The quake, one of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years, struck 23 kilometers (14.2 miles) east of Nurdagi, in Turkey’s Gaziantep province.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there were some problems in the initial response, but the rescue operations are back to normal.

“Initially there were issues at airports and on the roads, but today things are getting easier and tomorrow it will be easier still,” Erdogan says.

“We have mobilised all our resources,” he adds. “The state is doing its job,” he said while visiting the devastated southern Turkey.

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