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Rescuers struggle to reach Turkey quake victims

STORY: The sheer scale of the historic earthquakes in Syria and Turkey is becoming ever more apparent, and the death toll continues to rise by thousands to a point where now, over a day since the disaster struck, national rescue efforts are stretched thin in some areas and showing their limits.

Both authorities and residents are digging with anything they can find: asking neighbors for hammers, rope, or using their bare hands.

This is the city of Malatya, Turkey.

This woman says her in-laws grandchildren are in the rubble.

"Where is the state? Where have they been for two days?" She wants to know.

Her family says they haven't seen a single rescue worker.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan declared a state of emergency in ten provinces Tuesday for a period to last at least three months.

Authorities say 13.5 million people are affected over 280 miles in Turkey.

There are 12,000 search and rescue teams and 9,000 troops in that country, with more from other countries coming in, but roads are blocked and the logistics are tremendous.

For example at one airport, a rescue team from Taiwan was stuck for hours due to congestion.

A rescue worker from Istanbul told us he's seen people complaining about the scarcity of rescue efforts.

He says authorities are doing their best and with at least 10 cities impacted many, many rescue teams are needed.

In parts of Syria it is much the same. We found this man in the city of Jandaris.

He's not a rescue worker and he's not from the city either. But he says he came here with a group of 20 or 25 outsiders to help do whatever they can.

"There is no state" here, he says.

"There's no equipment, no excavators. Everything's being done with their hands. Whole families are still trapped under buildings."