China News Service, February 7 (Xinhua) According to the latest CNN report, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and multiple aftershocks have killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria.

On February 6, local time, in Gaziantep, Turkey, people spontaneously participated in rescue operations after the earthquake. They carried rubble with their bare hands among the collapsed ruins, looking for trapped survivors.

  According to reports, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the earthquake in Turkey has killed 3,549 people in the country.

Turkey's Disaster Emergency Management Agency said on the 7th that another 21,103 people were injured.

In Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,602, officials said.

As the rescue operation begins, the death toll is expected to rise further.

  The powerful earthquake in southern Turkey could affect nearly 23 million people, WHO senior emergency officer Adelheide Marchan told a conference in Geneva.

  "The incident overview map shows that 23 million people may be affected, of whom nearly 5 million are vulnerable, including more than 350,000 elderly people and 1.4 million children," Marchand said.

  WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern about the situation, saying "it is a race against time".