Turkey and Syria were hit with two earthquakes in succession, with the first earthquake that devastated Turkey reaching a whopping 7.8 on the Richter scale.
The death toll for the earthquake has since exceeded more than 17,500, according to the latest updates from the Wall Street Journal.
Among the survivors is a 7-year-old Syrian girl, Mariam, who was discovered underneath a concrete slab, protecting her younger brother by shielding his head with her arm.
Both children were thankfully rescued and pulled out from the rubble to safety.
Footage of the trapped siblings emerged on social media on 7 February and quickly went viral, showing the little girl shielding her little brother with her arm.
She had reportedly begged a rescuer to “get me out of here, I’ll do anything for you,” before she patted her brother’s hair and comforted him, saying “I’ll be your servant.”
The rescuer told her “no, no” that it wouldn’t be necessary, as the children were later rescued and are now safe.
According to The New York Post, the children were trapped underneath the rubble for more than 36 hours before they were rescued to safety and carried away in blankets.
They were later sent to a hospital for treatment before finally resting in a bed.
The children’s father, Mustafa Zuhir Al-Sayed spoke to CNN and said that his family was sleeping when the earthquakes struck.
They felt the ground shaking and suddenly rubble began falling on their heads, and they remained under the rubble for 2 days before someone heard them and rescued them.
هذا الفديو كسر قلبي 💔
— عمر مدنيه (@Omar_Madaniah) February 7, 2023
تقول الطفله للمنقذ عندما وصل لها: "عمو طالعني بصير عندك خدامة"
بسبب التعب الذي عاشته، بقيت هي وأختها لمدة 17 ساعة تحت الأنقاض ولا تستطيع الحراك. #زلزال_سوريا pic.twitter.com/n10RmXvyG9