BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) deputy Nazmi Gur as said once again that "hundreds of thousands of people" need help after the earthquake which hit Van on Sunday.

Survivors now feared the snow, as still tents are not sufficient to shelter everyone. Thousands of tents are needed.

Health officials have urged them to drink bottled water after detecting an increase in diarrhoea cases, especially among children.

"We can provide food but they desperately need shelter," Gur added.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged there had been failures in the distribution of tents.

The death toll, reported the emergency desk early this morning, has reached 523 while the number of wounded people is set at 1,650.

The number of victims pulled from the wreckage was reported by the desk as 185.

The number of deaths is feared to increase more, said officials.