More than 21,000 people are dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday, according to officials, writes ABC NEWS.

The pre-dawn quake was centered in the town of Pazarcik in Turkey’s southeastern Kahramanmaras province and was followed by several powerful aftershocks. Thousands of buildings were toppled on both sides of the border, and the death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers searched for survivors in the massive piles of rubble.

As the desperate search for survivors continues, 121 Turkish citizens have been pulled from the rubble alive in the past 24 hours, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Thursday.

The search and rescue operations in Kilis and Şanlıurfa provinces have been completed, and they are almost complete in Adana, Osmaniye and Diyarbakır provinces, Oktay said.