Istanbul: A fierce earth quake killed over 3, 500 people in Turkey and Syria, more thousands people were injured. The earth quake caused extensive damage in Turkey and Syria including fires in fuel pipelines and oil refineries.

As a massive quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck the two countries’ border region early on Monday. As rescue teams scrambled in freezing weather to extricate trapped people from under debris of collapsed buildings and arrange shelter for the affected. Another major earthquake, measuring 7.5, rocked the same region, as did dozens of after-shocks.

According to Turkey Vice – President Fuat Oktay, the death toll in Turkey has risen to 2,379, while more than 14,483 people have been injured after the two quakes.

There were as many as 145 aftershocks following both quakes, three of whose magnitudes were larger than 6, he said.

According to BBC reports the death toll in Syria is above 1,444, across government and rebel-held areas. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck near Turkey’s Gaziantep early on Monday (local time) and its tremors were said to be felt all around the Middle East region from Cairo to Beirut to Baghdad. It even prompted Italy to declare a tsunami warning.

The wave of destruction swept through 10 Turkish provinces, including Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, while in Syria, northern Aleppo, Hama, Latakia, and Tartus were the affected areas.