In the southern Turkish city of Antakya, a pregnant woman buried under the rubble of a collapsed building was pulled out to safety by Chinese and local rescue teams on Thursday, three days after the catastrophic magnitude-7.7 earthquake and its aftershocks struck the country and northern Syria.

Across a swathe of southern Türkiye, people sought temporary shelter and food in freezing winter weather and waited in anguish by piles of rubble where family and friends might still lie buried. The death toll in Türkiye has risen to 14,351.

The Chinese rescue team, consisting of 82 members including specialists in search and rescue as well as medical treatment, rushed to one of the worst-hit regions in Türkiye as soon as they landed at the Adana international airport on Wednesday. 

Arriving at the scene, the Chinese rescuers immediately joined their Turkish partners to carry out a rescue plan and saved the woman, according to Zhao Yang, deputy leader of the Chinese rescue team.

Civilian teams

The team sent by the Chinese government was followed by several Chinese civilian teams set to join the international rescue effort.

The first batch of the Blue Sky Rescue (BSR) team, a professional non-profit search-and-rescue organization, arrived in Türkiye on Wednesday. Many within the 50-member team have international rescue experience.

On Wednesday, another 127 BSR members from different parts of China assembled in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, from which they then departed for Türkiye, bringing with them more devices including radar and sonar life detectors, drones and emergency medical supplies.

Eight experts of the Rescue Team of Ramunion from China's Zhejiang arrived in Adana on Wednesday to carry out rescue work and provide help to quake-affected victims.

As of midday Thursday, 10 Chinese civilian teams from places including south China's Shenzhen and Wenzhou have already departed for or arrived in Türkiye to assist in the rescue effort.

Overseas branches of Chinese companies are also lending a helping hand. Chinese machinery giant Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group has mobilized employees of its local branch in Türkiye to join in the relief efforts.

Freezing temperatures

Bitter cold has hampered the four-day search of thousands of flattened buildings, and the 72-hour mark that experts consider the most likely period to save lives has passed.

Temperatures in the Turkish city of Gaziantep plunged to minus 5 degrees Celsius early Thursday, but thousands of families spent the night in cars and makeshift tents – too scared or banned from returning to their homes.

Parents walked the streets of the city – close to the epicenter of Monday's earthquake – carrying their children in blankets because it was warmer than sitting in a tent.

Some people have found sanctuary with neighbors or relatives. Some have left the region. But many have nowhere to go.

Gyms, mosques, schools and some stores have opened up at night. But beds are still at a premium and thousands spend the nights in cars with engines running to provide heat.

Turkish officials 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.

On a visit to the disaster zone on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said operations were now proceeding normally and promised no one would be left homeless.

Speaking to reporters, with a wail of ambulance sirens in the background, he said there had been problems with roads and airports but "we are better today."

"We will be better tomorrow and later. We still have some issues with fuel ... but we will overcome those too," Erdogan said.

(With input from agencies)