A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck both Turkey and Syria early on Monday morning.
At least 1,300 people have been killed and hundreds more injured as rescuers frantically search for survivors.
Video captured the terrifying moment right when a building in Turkey collapsed, sending people fleeing for their lives.
Residents were forced to evacuate amid the cold, rain and snow.
The pre-dawn quake flattened buildings, so rescue workers used their bare hands to search for residents trapped under heaps of rubble.
Rescue work is being hampered by inclement weather and more aftershocks.
The misery was compounded by severe aftershocks, including another major quake at magnitude 7.5 12 hours after the first quake.
A building was seen collapsing next to rescuers.
In the Turkish city of Adana, a 14-storey building was obliterated, with rescuers trying to reach those trapped.
Residents admitted, the earthquake literally wiped out their homes.
The quake also rattled buildings in Syria, where the quake wrecked both government-held territory and rebel-held areas.
In rebel-held areas, more than 200 people were killed.
Rescuers were seen carrying newborns and victims to hospitals.
Back in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed solidarity with residents, and said the death toll could rise.
So far, at least 1,500 people have been killed, with hundreds more unaccounted for.
Hospitals in both Turkey and Syria were inundated with the wounded.
The quake-ravaged region is located on top of major fault lines, and is frequently rocked by earthquakes.
Some 18,000 people were killed in a similarly powerful earthquake that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.
With thousands of buildings destroyed, humanitarian activists are calling for international aid to assist with rescue efforts.
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