Ankara, Feb 8 (IANS): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Tuesday a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces of Turkey hit by massive quakes.
The decision is taken in order to ensure that search and rescue activities and subsequent studies can be carried out quickly, he said at a press conference.
Death tolls from Monday's powerful earthquakes in southern Turkey rose to 3,549, Erdogan added.
A total of 53,317 search and rescue staff and support personnel are currently working in the earthquake zones, according to the President.
The casualties were in provinces of southern Kahramanmaras, Adana, Adiyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis and Malatya and southeastern Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, and Gaziantep, according to Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time on Monday, followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country's southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time in the Kahramanmaras province, Xinhua news agency reported.
Erdogan on Monday declared seven days of national mourning for the victims.