By Staff, Agencies

The death toll from the major earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria has been rising over night, showing so far that at least 3,381 have died in Turkey, while Syria toll stands at 1,444.

Given the massive devastation, the World Health Organization expected that deaths could pass 20,000.

Meanwhile, rescuers continue racing to pull survivors from beneath the rubble after the quake left destruction and debris on each side of the Syria-Turkey border.

It was described as one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in a century shook residents from their beds at around 4 am on Monday, sending tremors as far away as Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan.

A series of aftershocks have reverberated throughout the day. The largest, a major quake that measured 7.5 in magnitude, hit in Turkey about nine hours after the initial quake, according to the USGS.

That aftershock hit around 95 kilometers north of the original.