The earthquake becomes the deadliest in Turkey in 100 years

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Tuesday that the death toll in the country from last week’s massive earthquake and its aftershocks had reached 35,418, the Associated Press reported.

Why it matters: This makes the earthquake the deadliest in Turkey since its founding in 1923.

The new death toll makes the February 6 earthquake more deadly than the massive Erzincan earthquake of 1939, which claimed about 33,000 lives.

In numbers: Erdogan said that 105,505 people were injured as a result of last week’s earthquake.

On Sunday, Syrian state media said that at least 1,414 people have been killed in government-held areas. The Syrian Civil Defense, a first responder group also known as the White Helmets, said 2,274 people had died in opposition-held areas, bringing the country’s death toll from the earthquake to at least 3,688. It has now exceeded 39,000.

The big picture: Thousands of buildings have collapsed across Turkey and Syria, with the sheer scale of destruction and freezing temperatures hampering ongoing rescue efforts.

Speaking after a five-hour cabinet meeting at the headquarters of Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, Erdogan said 47,000 buildings were either destroyed or damaged so badly that they required demolition, according to the Associated Press. Erdogan said, in a statement to the Associated Press, that Turkish authorities have opened an investigation into contractors allegedly linked to some fatal building collapses, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed on Tuesday to temporarily allow earthquake aid passage through two new border crossings from Turkey to areas where Rebel-held areas in northern Syria, after medics and activists sharply criticized the United Nations and the international community for their slow response in getting aid to the millions of affected people in the area.

Go deeper: WHO warns Turkey and Syria earthquake survivors face ‘minor catastrophe’

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