Earthquakes
“When the doctor said ‘is that an earthquake?’ I still thought ... he was just trying to lighten the mood,” Justin Allen told HuffPost.
“You could literally feel the ground shaking beneath your feet,” a CNN reporter said later.
Mental health professionals say that women in Syria were already traumatised, but the recent earthquake has taken an additional psychological toll.
With only one humanitarian crossing point open from Turkey to Syria, rescuers fear the slow aid will further harm Syrians already suffering from years of war.
More than 11,200 people are known to have died so far.
Political pressures and changing weather could hamper the humanitarian efforts.
Within 24 hours of the 7.8 magnitude quake and a series of severe aftershocks, the estimated death toll was at more than 4,600 people.
The powerful 7.8 magnitude quake was followed by a series of aftershocks.
Following the collapse of the previous government and severe international sanctions, the country's humanitarian crisis has only deepened.
The tremor measured a magnitude of around 7.1.