Wailing children, flattened buildings and hospitals full of bodies - a devastating earthquake on Monday looked painfully familiar for Syrian families and rescuers worn down by nearly 12 years of bombardment and displacement.
Young men could be seen clawing through debris and heaving hammers onto slabs of concrete to look for survivors. Dented water tanks and solar panels had flown off roofs and landed on the damp ground.
In Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan said more than 900 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured. He said air strikes over the years had left buildings structurally fragile so they "immediately collapsed", ultimately leading to more deaths.Millions of people in northwest Syria have been left vulnerable by the conflict, according to the United Nations, which says 2.9 million people in the region have been displaced and 1.8 million are living in camps.
In the countryside of Idlib province, the earthquake damaged the modest structures set up in displacement camps hosting Syrians who had fled the war over the years, said Ahmad al-Sheikh, a resident of a nearby border town.
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