Gaziantep, Turkey | Rescue workers dug through rubble on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to find survivors of the most powerful and deadly earthquake to hit Turkey and Syria in decades, toiling in a vast and desperate search complicated by geography and geopolitics, freezing weather and the sheer scope of the disaster.

Even as they struggled to free people from the tombs of metal, concrete and wood where apartments and office buildings once stood, the death toll climbed. At least 7700 people were reported dead, officials said.