Turkey-Syria Earthquake: Police release CCTV of moment tremors flattened buildings

Footage of the moment the first quake struck

Footage of the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria has been released by police.

The Diyarbakir police department released the moment the 7.8 earthquake hit the city a week ago. The footage shows buildings crumbling down as lamp posts and electrical signs shook and some power lines exploded.

People in the south eastern Turkish city flooded the street, escaping from the cloud of dust released from the collapsed buildings.

The CCTV clips show various different shots of the first earthquake that struck in the early hours of February 6. A 7.5 magnitude earthquake stuck nine hours later.

The earthquakes killed at least 36,000, with the toll expected to rise considerably as search teams find more bodies, and reduced much of towns and cities inhabited by millions to fragments of concrete and twisted metal.

Rescue crews continued to pull some people from the wreckage of collapsed buildings on Monday but reports of rescues are coming less often as the time since the quake reaches the limits of the human body's ability to survive without water, especially in sub-freezing temperatures.

As the immediate crisis dissipates many are now beginning to react angrily to the speed of the response by authorities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has insisted rescue efforts are ongoing in all of the Turkish regions affected by last Monday's quake, despite previously acknowledging shortcomings in the government's response.

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