Over 50 people died and hundreds more were trapped under rubble in southern Turkey on Monday after a powerful 7.9 magnitude earthquake brought down dozens of buildings.

What happened: Tremors from the massive earthquake, which prompted a search for survivors under rubble in snowy streets, were felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria, Reuters reported.

See also: Turkey’s Erdogan warns Greece his missiles could hit Athens – ‘If you don’t keep calm…’

president Recep Tayyip Erdogan-led authorities dispatched rescue teams and supply planes to the region and declared a “level 4 alert” calling for international assistance.

Early government updates reported the death toll of at least 23 in Turkey’s Malatya province, 17 in Sanliurfa, six in Diyarbakir and five others in Osmaniye. About 42 were killed, state media said, south across the border in Syria.

Turkish local authorities said 16 buildings collapsed in Sanliurfa and 34 in Osmaniye.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in the 40 years I’ve lived” earthma resident of the Turkish city of Gaziantep told the publication.

“We were shaken very hard at least three times, like a baby in a cradle.”

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