“Devastating Earthquake in Aleppo: Unfolding Crisis in Syria’s War-Torn City”

Several buildings are said to have collapsed in the Syrian city of Aleppo

Syria’s war-torn city of Aleppo is among the areas that took the brunt of a deadly earthquake that also devastated parts of southern Turkey.

More than 1,000 people have died after the earthquake in northern Syria.

Rescue teams said many buildings were damaged or destroyed and people remain trapped under the rubble.

The region is home to millions of civil war refugees.

Control of northern Syria is shared between the government, Kurdish-led forces and other rebel groups. They remain involved in conflicts.

Even before the earthquake, the situation in large parts of the region was critical: Frosty weather, crumbling infrastructure and an outbreak of cholera brought misery to many of the people living there.

According to separate figures from the Syrian government and the White Helmet rescue group, which operates in rebel-held areas, more than 1,000 people have died in the region so far following the quake.

A video released on social media and verified by the BBC showed a building in Aleppo falling to the ground as onlookers fled to safety.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9 km (11 miles) near the Turkish city of Gaziantep. Twelve hours later, 130 km (80 miles) north, a second quake was almost as strong.

A White Helmet spokesman described northwest Syria as a “disaster area” and said families remain trapped under the rubble.

All of the country’s emergency services were made available in the government-controlled areas, including the army and student volunteers. But BBC Monitoring’s Hesham Shawish, a Middle East specialist, says that’s not enough to deal with the extent of the destruction.

The International Rescue Committee, a charity with more than 1,000 workers on the ground in opposition-held areas of Syria, said it was already dealing with the region’s first cholera outbreak in a decade and preparing for approaching snowstorms when the quake arrived.

Frost and torrential rain hampered rescue efforts.

Mark Kaye, the organization’s Middle East advocacy director, described the situation as a “crisis within a crisis within a crisis” and said large parts of the region are out of touch due to damage to communications networks.

The Idlib region is one of the hardest hit in Syria

Some people in remote areas are said to have been displaced up to 20 times as a result of the civil war that broke out in 2011 when a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad turned violent.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians and combatants have been killed in the conflict, and the resulting humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by an unprecedented economic downturn in recent years.

Entire neighborhoods and vital infrastructure, including hospitals, across Syria lay in ruins as a result of fighting before the earthquake.

The government has appealed for international assistance – particularly to member states of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups.

However, it has reportedly denied claims that it had asked Israel for help. The two countries are still technically at war and do not currently have diplomatic ties.

Dozens of other nations have pledged aid, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. The UN said it has teams on the ground assessing the situation and providing assistance.

Russia, which already has a military presence in Syria due to its involvement in the civil war on the part of the government, has also pledged its support.

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