Erdoğan imposes three month state of emergency on 10 Turkish provinces affected by quake, death toll rises to 5,151

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday declared as a disaster zone the 10 provinces affected by the devastating earthquakes in southern Turkey, imposing a state of emergency in the region for three months.

In a speech, Reuters reports that Erdoğan said that 70 countries had offered help in search and rescue operations and that Turkey planned to open up hotels in the tourism hub of Antalya, to the west, to temporarily house people affected by the quakes.

He said the death toll in Turkey had risen to 3,549 people, raising the combined death toll in Turkey and Syria to 5,151.

Erdoğan on Monday, Feb. 6 declared 7-day national mourning after  two major earthquakes struck southeastern Turkey nine hours apart.

"Due to the earthquakes that took place in our country on February 6, 2023, a national mourning was declared for seven days. Our flag will be flown at half-mast until the sunset on Sunday, February 12, 2023, in all our country and foreign representations," Erdoğan said.

The initial earthquake at a magnitude of 7.7 struck southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş's Pazarcık district on Feb. 6 at 4:17 a.m. local time.

The second earthquake at a magnitude of 7.6 struck Kahramanmaraş's Elbistan district at 1.24 p.m. local time on the same day.