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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has visited southern Turkey to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort.

The confirmed death toll from Monday's quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, rose to more than 11,000 people in both countries.

The tally was expected to rise as hundreds of collapsed buildings in many cities have become tombs for people who had been asleep in the homes when the quake hit in the early morning.

In the Turkish city of Antakya, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital.

Families in southern Turkey and in Syria spent a second night in the freezing cold as overwhelmed rescuers tried to pull people from the rubble.

Many in the Turkish disaster zone had slept in their cars or in the streets under blankets, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the 7.8 magnitude tremor - Turkey's deadliest since 1999 - and by a second powerful quake hours later.

The death toll rose above 8500 in Turkey. In Syria, already devastated by 11 years of war, the confirmed toll climbed to more than 2,500 overnight, according to the Syrian government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.

Erdogan, who has declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces and sent in troops to help, arrived in the city of Kahramanmaras to view the damage and see the rescue and relief effort.

The disaster poses a new challenge to him in the election he faces in May that was already set to be the toughest of his two decades in power.

Any perception that the government is failing to address the disaster properly could hurt Erdogan's prospects in the vote, but analysts say that on the other hand, he could rally national support around the crisis response and strengthen his position.

Reuters journalists in Kahramanmaras saw around 50 bodies draped in blankets on the floor of a sports hall. Family members searched for relatives among the dead.

Kneeling on the auditorium floor, a woman wailed with grief and embraced a body wrapped in a blanket

In Hatay province, where dozens more bodies lay outside in rows between Red Crescent tents, people opened body bags hoping to identify loved ones.

The quake toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks, injured tens of thousands, and left countless people homeless in Turkey and northern Syria.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 kilometres from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east.

In Syria, it killed people as far south as Hama.

Turkey's disaster management agency said the number of injured was above 38,000.

Aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, where humanitarian needs were already greater than at any point since the eruption of a conflict that has partitioned the nation and is complicating relief efforts.

Residents in Syrian government-held territory contacted by phone have described the authorities' response as slow, with some areas receiving more help than others.

In the town of Jandaris in northern Syria, rescue workers and residents said dozens of buildings had collapsed.

Standing around the wreckage of what had been a 32-apartment building, relatives of people who had lived there said they had seen no one removed alive. A lack of heavy equipment to remove large concrete slabs was impeding rescue efforts.

Rescue workers have struggled to reach some of the worst-hit areas, held back by destroyed roads, poor weather and a lack of resources and heavy equipment. Some areas are without fuel and electricity.

A rescue service operating in insurgent-held northwest Syria said the number of dead had climbed to more than 1280 with more than 2600 injured.

© RAW 2023

The NRL Pre-Season Challenge is set to be disrupted with industrial action by players unless the governing body adheres to certain requirements by Thursday.

AAP has been told NRL and NRLW players resolved at a 'Leaders in League' conference held by the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) in Sydney last week to cover NRL logos, delay kick-offs and implement external media bans at NRL Pre-Season Challenge games as part of "increased activations" to get their differences resolved.

The two-round NRL Pre-Season Challenge kicks off on Thursday night in Auckland with the clash between the Warriors and Wests Tigers.

The players want the NRL and RLPA to come to an agreement in certain key areas this week including financial and non-financial matters, but it mostly relates to the NRLW competition.

The RLPA has made the NRL aware that agreement on "the NRLW salary cap, policies inside the CBA and RLPA autonomy" need to be achieved.

The recent conference involved getting feedback from players and workshopping strategies between themselves, so they could reach a collective agreement and then put pressure on the NRL to agree to it.

Of chief concern, as revealed by Melbourne Storm's RLPA delegate Christian Welch this week, was female players "have no clarity on their CBA or their financial model".

"It's unacceptable," Welch said.

"They can't sign contracts, they're not training, they're really in limbo to be honest."

There were approximately 70 players from the NRL and NRLW at the Sydney conference which was attended by NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, who addressed players.

AAP has spoken to several female and male players who are determined to see the industrial action to the end.

Shaun Lane, an RLPA delegate for Parramatta, said this week strike action could be the only solution.

"I guess if it does get to that point then we will be willing to do whatever's necessary," he said.

© AAP 2023

Families in southern Turkey and Syria have spent a second night in the freezing cold as overwhelmed rescuers raced to pull people from the rubble two days after a massive earthquake that killed more than 9600 people.

In Turkey, dozens of bodies, some covered in blankets and sheets and others in body bags, were lined up on the ground outside a hospital in Hatay province.

Many in the disaster zone had slept their cars or in the streets under blankets, fearful of going back into buildings shaken by the 7.8 magnitude tremor - already Turkey's deadliest since 1999 - that hit in the early hours of Monday.

Rescuers there and in neighbouring Syria warned that the death toll would keep rising as some survivors said help had yet to arrive.

With the scale of the disaster becoming ever more apparent, the death toll rose above 7100 in Turkey. In Syria, already devastated by 11 years of war, the confirmed toll climbed to more than 2500 overnight, according to the Syrian government and a rescue service operating in the rebel-held northwest.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has declared a state of emergency in 10 provinces. But residents in several damaged Turkish cities have voiced anger and despair at what they said was a slow and inadequate response by the authorities.

The initial quake, followed hours later by a second one almost as powerful, struck just after 4am on Monday, giving the sleeping population little chance to react.

It toppled thousands of buildings including hospitals, schools and apartment blocks, injured tens of thousands, and left countless people homeless in Turkey and northern Syria.

Turkish authorities say some 13.5 million people were affected in an area spanning roughly 450 kilometres from Adana in the west to Diyarbakir in the east - broader than the distance between Boston and Philadelphia, or Amsterdam and Paris.

In Syria, it killed people as far south as Hama, some 100km from the epicentre.

Turkey's disaster management agency said the number of injured was above 38,000.

In the town of Jandaris in northern Syria, rescue workers and residents said dozens of buildings had collapsed.

Standing around the wreckage of what had been a 32-apartment building, relatives of people who had lived there said they had seen no one removed alive. A lack of heavy equipment to remove large concrete slabs was impeding rescue efforts.

Rescue workers have struggled to reach some of the worst-hit areas, held back by destroyed roads, poor weather and a lack of resources and heavy equipment. Some areas are without fuel and electricity.

Aid officials voiced particular concern about the situation in Syria, where humanitarian needs were already greater than at any point since the eruption of a conflict that has partitioned the nation and is complicating relief efforts.

The head of the World Health Organisation has said the rescue efforts face a race against time, with the chances of finding survivors alive slipping away with every minute and hour.

In Syria, a rescue service operating in the insurgent-held northwest said the number of dead had climbed to more than 1280 and more than 2,600 were injured.

"The number is expected to rise significantly due to the presence of hundreds of families under the rubble, more than 50 hours after the earthquake," the rescue service said on Twitter.

Overnight, the Syrian health minister said the number of dead in government-held areas rose to 1250, the state-run al-Ikhbariya news outlet reported on its Telegram feed. The number of wounded was 2054.

Turkey's deadliest earthquake in a generation has handed Erdogan a huge rescue and reconstruction challenge, which will overshadow the run-up to the May elections already set to be the toughest of his two decades in power.

The vote, too close to call according to polls before the quake, will determine how Turkey is governed, where its economy is headed and what role the regional power and NATO member may play to ease conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.

© RAW 2023