ISLAMABAD: Pakistan鈥檚 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday announced allocating Rs10 billion ($36.8 million) to a relief fund for Turkiye and Syria, which will be used to send goods to survivors of the devastating earthquake that has killed 21,000 people in the two countries. 

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, followed by aftershocks, hit the border region between Turkiye and Syria, an area home to more than 13.5 million people, early Monday morning. The death toll from the earthquake, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called 鈥渢he disaster of the century,鈥� has eclipsed the more than 18,400 who died in the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, that triggered a tsunami and the estimated 18,000 people who died in a temblor near Istanbul in 1999. 

With morgues and cemeteries overwhelmed, bodies lay wrapped in blankets, rugs, and tarps in the streets of some cities. Temperatures remain below freezing across the large region, and many people have no place to shelter. The government has distributed millions of hot meals, as well as tents and blankets, but was still struggling to reach many people in need. 

鈥淭he federal government has allocated Rs10 billion worth of relief funds to help our Turkish brothers and sisters in need,鈥� PM Sharif told reporters in Lahore, after dispatching a planeload of relief goods to Turkiye. 

The Pakistani government this week announced the establishment of the 鈥淧rime Minister鈥檚 Relief Fund for Victims of Earthquake in Turkiye鈥� as well as sent search and rescue teams and relief goods to quake-hit Turkiye. 

Pakistan鈥檚 National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) would purchase relief goods, including winterized tents, blankets and dried food, for the earthquake victims and send it to the two countries, PM Sharif said. 

鈥淭he provinces, as well as the business community, would contribute separately to the [relief fund], while the 220 million people of Pakistan will also pour in their contributions which will be over and above the Rs10 billion figure,鈥� he added.