Turkish authorities say they are targeting disinformation, and an internet monitoring group said access to Twitter was restricted despite it being used by survivors to alert rescuers.
Search teams from more than two dozen countries have joined tens of thousands of local emergency personnel in Syria and Turkey. But the scale of destruction from the quake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense and spread over such a wide area — including a region isolated by Syria’s ongoing civil war — that many people were still awaiting help.
Pikal, who took part in the rescue efforts, said he thinks at least some of the victims froze to death as temperatures dipped to minus 6 degrees Celsius (21 Fahrenheit).
“As of today, there is no hope left in Malatya,” Pikal said by telephone. “No one is coming out alive from the rubble.”
Road closures and damage in the region made it hard to access all the areas that need help, he said, and there was a shortage of rescuers where he was.
“Our hands cannot pick up anything because of the cold,” said Pikal. “Work machines are needed.”The region was already beset by more than a decade of civil war in Syria. Millions have been displaced within Syria itself and millions more have sought refuge in Turkey.
Turkey’s president said the country’s death toll passed 9,000. The Syrian Health Ministry said the death toll in government-held areas climbed past 1,200. At least 1,600 people have died in the rebel-held northwest, according to the volunteer first responders known as the White Helmets.
That brought the overall total to nearly 12,000. Tens of thousands more are injured.Turkish authorities say they are targeting disinformation, and an internet monitoring group said access to Twitter was restricted despite it being used by survivors to alert rescuers.
Search teams from more than two dozen countries have joined tens of thousands of local emergency personnel in Syria and Turkey. But the scale of destruction from the quake and its powerful aftershocks was so immense and spread over such a wide area — including a region isolated by Syria’s ongoing civil war — that many people were still awaiting help.
Twitter has been restricted in Turkey on Wednesday, the Netblocks internet observatory said, two days after a major earthquake that has killed more than 11,500 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
"Real-time network data show Twitter has been restricted in Turkey; the filtering is applied on major internet providers and comes as the public come to rely on the service in the aftermath of a series of deadly earthquakes," said Netblocks, which tracks connectivity across the globe.
"How come Twitter is restricted on a day communication saves lives? What kind of ineptitude?" the head of the DEVA opposition party, Ali Babacann said on Twitter.
Since the quake hit on Monday, Turks have tweeted information about loved ones they cannot reach, reports of collapsed buildings in the area and coordination for aid.
Cyber rights expert and professor at Istanbul Bilgi University Yaman Akdeniz said on Twitter that the Turkish laws have several articles that could lead to a restriction of access to Twitter.
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