Gaziantep, Turkey: According to Turkey's disaster management agency, more bodies are still being found in the wreckage of collapsed homes in the affected area, bringing the total number of fatalities from the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria to more than 15,000, as of Thursday.

The early-morning earthquake and subsequent aftershocks on Monday claimed 12,391 lives in Turkey, toppling tens of thousands of buildings in the country's southeast.

Another 2,902 people are said to have perished in Syria, which is on the other side of the border.

More than three full days after the earthquake struck, rescue workers were still extricating alive people from the damaged buildings, but hope was dwindling due to the freezing temperatures.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, paid a visit to the particularly hard-hit Hatay province on Wednesday. Residents there have criticized the government's efforts, saying rescuers arrived too slowly.

Erdogan acknowledged issues with the emergency response to Monday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake but claimed the winter weather had been a factor in response to mounting frustration. Erdogan faces a difficult reelection campaign in May. The runway at the airport in Hatay was also destroyed by the earthquake, further complicating the situation.

Erdogan declared, "It is impossible to be ready for such a catastrophe."We won't neglect any of our citizens," the statement reads. He responded to critics by claiming that "dishonorable people" were spreading "lies and slander" about the actions of the government.

Tens of thousands of local emergency workers have joined teams from more than twenty different nations in the effort. But because the quake's devastation was so extensive and dispersed over such a large area, many people were still in need of assistance.

Experts warned that the window of opportunity for those buried beneath the debris or otherwise unable to obtain basic necessities was rapidly closing. They added that it was premature to give up on hope at the same time.

According to Steven Godby, a natural hazards specialist at Nottingham Trent University in England, "the first 72 hours are considered to be critical." "The survival ratio is typically 74% within 24 hours, 22% within 72 hours, and 6% within five days."