Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Türkiye on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday's quake, which struck a swathe of southern Türkiye and neighboring Syria, rose to more than 11,200 people.

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.

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 magnitude-7.8 tremor, Türkiye's deadliest since 1999, and by a second powerful quake hours later.

A new magnitude-5.2 earthquake hit Türkiye on Wednesday at a depth of five kilometers, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center.

The death toll rose above 8,500 in Türkiye. 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.

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Erdogan arrives in earthquake-hit south

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

Speaking to reporters, with constant ambulance sirens in the background, Erdogan said there had been problems with roads and airports but that everything would get better by the day.

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

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

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

"It's now a race against time," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva. "Every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding survivors alive diminishes."

'Under the rubble,' humanitarian relief work in Syria still blocked by U.S. sanctions

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 is complicating relief 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.

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Running against time: Rescue operations in Syria

While Syria is struggling harder amid the earthquakes, the U.S. sanctions are still blocking humanitarian relief work in the country.

In a statement, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Syrians, while dealing with the earthquake catastrophe, are digging among rubble with bare hands or using the simplest tools, as the equipment for removing the rubble has been banned by the United States.

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A rescue service operating in insurgent-held northwest Syria said the number of dead had climbed to more than 1,280 and more than 2,600 were injured.

Overnight, the Syrian health minister said the number of dead in government-held areas rose to 1,250, the state-run al-Ikhbariya news outlet reported on its Telegram feed. The number of wounded was 2,054, he said.

Countries pledge aid after powerful quakes

Many countries and global aid agencies are offering rescue teams and relief supplies to Türkiye and Syria.

More than 12,000 Turkish search and rescue personnel are working in the affected areas, along with 9,000 troops. More than 70 countries offered rescue teams and other aid.

An 82-member Chinese rescue team arrived at Adana Airport on Wednesday to assist in rescue efforts in the quake-hit areas in Türkiye after flying over 8,000 kilometers on a chartered plane.

"Upon arrival, the team will bring audio and video life detectors, medical equipment and rescue dogs to the disaster area and immediately start the search and rescue work," said Wang Mo, deputy head of the Chinese rescue team.

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(With input from agencies)