Catch the latest news reports on The Big Story, The Straits Times’ weekday online news programme.

Dozens of governments and international aid organisations have responded with offers of support after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central Turkey and north-west Syria.

Among them is Singapore, which is sending a 20-man team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to assist in rescue efforts.

The Operation Lionheart contingent, which will be deployed in 24 hours, comprises officers from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, paramedics and a doctor, SCDF said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The quake has left more than 4,300 dead in Turkey and its neighbour Syria. Entire apartment blocks have been toppled, hospitals wrecked and thousands left injured or homeless.

Assistant Professor Wei Shengji from the Nanyang Technological University’s Asian School of the Environment joins the show to discuss the disaster. Prof Wei, who is also the Earth Observatory of Singapore’s principle Investigator, explains why this quake has claimed so many lives.