A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early on Monday morning has killed at least 2000 people, with the number expected to rise further. Hundreds of people are still believed to be trapped under rubble as rescue workers searched mounds of wreckage in cities and towns across the area.

Buildings were reported collapsed in a cross-border swath extending from Syria’s cities of Aleppo and Hama to Turkey’s Diyarbakir, more than 330km (200 miles) to the north-east.

Nearly 900 buildings were destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces, said vice-president Fuat Otkay. A hospital collapsed in the Mediterranean coastal city of Iskanderoun, but casualties were not immediately known, he said.

“Unfortunately, at the same time, we are also struggling with extremely severe weather conditions,” Oktay told reporters.