In pictures:Turkey-Syria quake toll reaches 41,000
Gallery
Mourners hold prayers over corpses of the three children who were killed in the Hatay earthquake wreckage [Getty]
Molham workers visit children affected by the earthquake as they recover [Molham]
A local resident attempts to salvage his car from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey [Getty]
White Helmets continue work across northern Syria [Syrian Civil Defence / White Helmets]
Local residents waiting for news of their relatives, sit by a bonfire on the rubble of a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey [Getty]
People look for necessary goods through aid supplies in Hatay, southeastern Turkey [Getty[
An aerial view shows a tractor working on removing debris from a collapsed building in the Syrian rebel-held town of Jindayris [Getty]
Rescue personnel search the rubble of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey [Getty]
The death toll following the Turkey-Syria earthquakes has reached at least 41,000, as relatives of casualties mourn their losses.
Hundreds of thousands of others were injured in the 7.8 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that devastated the region, as rescue and recovery efforts continue to press on.
With much of the region's sanitation infrastructure damaged or rendered inoperable by last Monday's quakes, Turkish health authorities face a daunting task in trying to ensure that survivors, many homeless, now remain disease-free.
President Erdogan is also facing a severe backlash in his country for granting an amnesty to companies that had constructed shoddy buildings, which were brutally exposed during last week's trajedy.
Damage assessments are to be completed within a week and reconstruction is set to start in three months, Erdogan said on Tuesday.