7.8-magnitude earthquake kills hundreds in southern Turkey, Syria

ISTANBUL — A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey early Monday killed more than 500 people across the country and in neighboring Syria, government officials said, as rescuers searched flattened buildings in frigid weather for survivors.

The earthquake — felt as far away as Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Egypt — occurred in Kahramanmaras province, north of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border. It was followed by dozens of powerful aftershocks. Most of the damage is in southern Turkey and northern and central Syria, and the death toll was expected to grow as casualty reports came in from individual provinces.