Bad weather is hampering rescue efforts after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its powerful aftershocks struck southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing thousands of people and injuring many more.

In addition to the devastation from the earthquake, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said authorities were also struggling with “extremely severe weather conditions”: “We are trying to reach the region as quickly as possible”.

TV images of rescue operations in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir showed dozens of rescuers and volunteers searching through rubble in their winter jackets and face scarves with snow on the ground as they desperately searched for survivors.