Turkey declares month-long state of emergency in quake-affected areas

ISTANBUL — Snowfall, freezing temperatures and blocked roads hampered efforts on Tuesday to respond to two powerful earthquakes that killed more than 5,150 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria, driving the Turkish President to declare a three-month state of emergency in the affected areas.

“The magnitude of the earthquake obviously forces us to take some extraordinary measures,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address on Tuesday. “We will accomplish all the necessary procedures and formalities very quickly.”