AID workers in northern Syria are desperate for more help, with one doctor warning that there are not enough medical supplies for a fifth of those needing them.

As of today, the official death toll from Monday’s earthquake has surpassed 22,300, with Turkish medics reporting 18,991 deaths and Syrian authorities saying 3,377 people have died.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the border region between the two nations in an area home to more than 13.5 million people.

In Turkey, morgues and cemeteries are overwhelmed, with bodies reportedly being held in hospital wards and streets, wrapped in blankets, rugs and tarps.

Temperatures remain below freezing across the large region, and many people have no place to shelter.

Oubadah Alwan of the rebel-aligned White Helmets said that the organisation’s volunteers on the ground in north-west Syria are “spread very thin” and that rescue equipment is in short supply.

He said that as the voices of people under the rubble become fewer, they are still waiting for aid in response to the earthquake to arrive.

Mr Alwan said that some of the challenges come from the UN security council protocols that exist for bringing aid into a war zone area controlled by jihadists.

The organisation’s head Raed al-Saleh accused the UN of handling the earthquake response “badly” and not acting in an “impartial” way.

Aleppo had seen large-scale destruction before the earthquake due to the war, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced from heavy bombardment.

The first of the UN aid trucks were able to enter into north-western Syria on Thursday, as the roads leading to the only crossing were severely damaged.

A second convoy arrived at the crossing point earlier today.

Emergency crews in Turkey made a series of rescues more than 100 hours after the tremors today, pulling several people from the rubble.

Engineers have suggested that the scale of devastation in Turkey is partly due to the lax enforcement of building codes, despite warnings made that they would be vulnerable to earthquakes.

The problem has been largely ignored, experts said, because addressing it would be expensive.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted today that the government’s response has not been as fast as he had hoped.

He said that the state of emergency declared will allow the government to crack down on “robbers and looters” in the area.

Mr Erdogan has been criticised for imposing the state of emergency as well as a social media ban, which was being used by volunteers and families to raise concerns about the lack of official support.

With most of Turkey’s media under the control of the government, television stations have been mainly focusing on rescue efforts, with hardly any reports on the hardship suffered on the ground.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited the affected areas today and met with rescue workers in his first public appearance since the earthquake.