More than 1,200 people have died as a terrifying 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and Syria at dawn this morning (Monday, 6th February).

Horrifying footage shows the moment the quake hit Turkey from CCTV footage inside a shop in the Gaziantep region.

As the shelves and walls of the store begin to shake, the tremor grows progressively stronger.

Objects are sent crashing to the floor as the quake grows in power and continues for more than 90 seconds before subsiding.

In another video from the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets), a tearful emergency worker begs for help to free people still trapped under the rubble.

As he pans his camera phone around the scenes of devastation, barely a brick remains standing in the aftermath of the quake.

He says: “Hundreds of civilians were killed, maybe thousands of people were injured by an earthquake that has hit Syria a few hours ago.”

As teams sift through the rubble behind him he continues: “Many families now are under the rubble. Our teams are trying to save them but it is a very difficult test for us. We need help.

“We need the international community to do something. To help us. To support us.

“North-western Syria is now a disaster area. We need help from everyone to save our people.”

The death toll is expected to increase, with hundreds believed to still be trapped under rubble.

Rescue workers have been working since dawn to find and free trapped survivors in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Hundreds of buildings are said to have been razed to the ground in multiple cities, with the quake reportedly felt as far away as Cairo in Egypt.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said: “Search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched.”

At the time of writing, over 900 people have died In Turkey in at least 10 provinces, while around 350 people were killed in Syria.

Rescue workers in both countries say the injury count is so far 5,383 in Turkey and over 1,000 in Syria.

Turkey’s Vice President, Fuat Otkay, 59, has said that nearly 900 buildings had been destroyed in Turkey’s Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras provinces.

Newsflash obtained a statement from Turkey’s AFAD disaster ministry this morning (Monday, 6th February) before the full power of the quake was known.

They said that the epicentre was “in Kahramanmaras Pazarcik” and that it “occurred at 04:17am”.

The statement also said: “It was felt intensely in the surrounding provinces, especially in Kahramanmarac, Hatay, Adana, Osmaniye, Diyarbakir, Malatya and Sanliurfa.”

The AFAD added: “After the earthquake, 42 aftershocks occurred as of now, the largest of which was 6.6 magnitude.”

They continued: “In meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, international assistance was called for in the field of urban search and rescue through the ERCC.”

The EU’s ERCC (Emergency Response Coordination Centre) coordinates the delivery of relief and aid to disaster-hit countries.

Newsflash also obtained statements from the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets) this morning (Monday, 6th February), saying that “many families are still trapped.”

They added: “Our teams are on the ground searching for survivors and removing the dead from the rubble.”

They also said: “Excavations of the bodies of the dead and injured from under the rubble of destroyed houses in the town of Qorqanya in the northern Idlib countryside as a result of the earthquake that struck north-western Syria at dawn today.”

Rescue efforts are ongoing and casualty figures are likely to increase.