An emergency response team from ShelterBox, the international disaster relief charity, is en route to Turkey to carry out crucial assessments to establish what support is needed after the series of powerful earthquakes devastated much of the southern part of the country and parts of northern Syria.

The humanitarian need in both countries is immense and growing. It's the most devastating earthquake to hit the region in 100 years and could become the worst.

The death toll is likely to rise significantly. Thousands of buildings have been destroyed in both countries leaving significant numbers of people homeless with nowhere to sleep in the middle of a bitter winter.

ShelterBox is launching an emergency fundraising appeal to help people affected by the earthquakes and other disasters around the world. The charity provides different combinations of emergency shelter aid and essential household items during its responses depending on what is needed. Items include tents, tarpaulins, stoves, clothes and solar lights.

Getting aid into countries and on to where it’s needed after a disaster of this scale presents huge challenges especially with damage to infrastructure and supply routes. To prepare, ShelterBox strategically pre-positions aid around the world, including in Syria where the charity has been working since 2012, supporting people displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country.

The emergency response to a disaster of this scale will be a huge logistical challenge, not least against the clock with freezing temperatures, snowfall and heavy rain causing extra complications and a real threat to life for people whose homes are now rubble or unsafe to return to.

With access and communications difficult, responses from aid agencies have to be highly coordinated to make sure that the right aid is getting to the right people, in the right place, at the right time.