Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll tops 34,000, another aftershock on Sunday

The death toll across Turkey and Syria following Monday’s catastrophic earthquake has surpassed over 34,000, reports said on Sunday. 

The death toll in Turkey has reached 29,605, Turkish Emergency Coordination Center SAKOM said and the confirmed death toll in Syria is 4,574 with a combined total of 34,179.

Rescuers pulled more survivors from the rubble on Sunday, nearly a week after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, as Turkish authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and began legal action over building collapses.

The quake is the deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939.

Meanwhile, a magnitude of 4.6 aftershock struck Turkey’s earthquake zone on Sunday, Feb. 12 according to AFAD, the country’s disaster management body.

Turkish authorities have issued more than 100 arrest warrants over collapsed buildings. State media reported that at least 12 people were in custody, including contractors, architects and engineers connected to some of the tens of thousands of buildings destroyed or seriously damaged in Monday’s 7.8- and 7.6-magnitude quakes.