Buildings in Turkey and Syria collapsed during a massive earthquake while people slept.

Near the Syrian border, a strong earthquake slammed southeastern Turkey, killing more than 1,000 people while they were asleep and detaining many more.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake was reported to have occurred close to the city of Gaziantep at a depth of 17.9 kilometres (11 miles) around 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT).

A second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 occurred hours later near the Kahramanmaras province’s Elbistan area.

More than 900 people have passed away in Turkey and 500 in Syria thus far.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, announced that there had been 912 fatalities. 371 fatalities were reported by the Syrian health ministry in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Tartus.

On Twitter, the “White Helmets rescue organization,” which works in rebel-held parts of northwest Syria, reported that at least 147 people had perished there.

Rescue workers have been sent in to look for victims under massive amounts of rubble after many houses have crashed.

Gaziantep Castle, a historic structure that has existed for more than 2,000 years, was one of the structures that was demolished.

The second earthquake, which occurred at 13:24 local time (10:24 GMT), had its centre in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province, roughly 80 miles to the north of the first earthquake.

The preceding earthquake was “autonomous” of this one, according to a disaster and emergency administration authority official in Turkey.

Following the initial earthquake, at least 70 deaths were already recorded throughout Kahramanmaras, while 80 people died in Gaziantep.

In Turkey, there were at least 5,385 injuries, and there were 1,000 in Syria.