MANILA — The humanitarian response to the devastating earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria will go on for months, an international medical humanitarian organization said Friday.

The death toll from the massive earthquake surpassed 21,000 Thursday. Experts fear the number will continue to rise sharply.

"In terms of the length of the response, this will go on for months," Paul McPhun, director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific for Doctors Without Borders, told ANC's "Rundown".

"Critical infrastructures have been destroyed. Access to essential medical services is massively disrupted. People are displaced. They don't have homes... The impact of this is not short-term at all.

"This is the time where Syria and Turkey need the help of every individual," he added.

• Death toll tops 21,000 from Turkey-Syria quake as hopes fade

The group noted logistical challenges and security concerns in the relief efforts.

"It's difficult because roads are damaged. It's hard to move around. On top of that, there's also security concern. You can't move freely and easily around this region," McPhun said.

"We are now shifting our efforts toward outreach. Putting together mobile clinics, trying to reach communities that have been affected but haven't received assistance," he added.

Chances of finding survivors have dimmed now that the 72-hour mark that experts consider the most likely period to save lives has passed.

"As the number of days and hours go by, the chances of survival now is increasingly lower," McPhun noted.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck early Monday as people slept, in a region where many had already suffered loss and displacement due to Syria's civil war.

The Philippine Embassy in Ankara said 2 Filipinos were killed from the quake.

• https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/10/23/2-filipinos-killed-in-turkey-quake

— With a report from Agence France-Presse