Earthquake Update: United States had now contributed $185 million (€174.5 million) in assistance to Turkey and Syria

The announcement of the aid package comes as rescue efforts in impacted regions have ended in all but two provinces, Hatay and Kahramanmaras – the earthquake’s epicentre.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor that struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6 has killed more than 45,000 people, with the likelihood of finding survivors two weeks on extremely unlikely.

No survivors have been found in the last 24 hours.

The head of Turkey’s disaster agency Yunus Sezer said search and rescue efforts continued at around 40 buildings in the provinces on the 14th day, but expected this number to fall by Sunday evening.

Blinken in Turkey

Washington’s top diplomat met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

Blinken and Cavusoglu then flew in a helicopter for an aerial view of the damage caused by the disaster in the Hatay province

The new aid “will be moving soon. Sadly, it’s less about search and rescue but long-term recovery. This is going to be a long-term effort”, Blinken told reporters.

“It’s going to take a massive effort to rebuild but we’re committed to supporting that effort,” he added, saying the United States had now contributed $185 million (€174.5 million) in assistance to Turkey and Syria.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Saturday that some 105,000 buildings either collapsed, needed to be demolished or were severely damaged.