The death toll in a series of major earthquakes near Turkey's border with Syria has risen to more than 49,000.

Many people are also displaced due to damage to their homes.

The number of fatalities so far is 43,556 in Turkey and 5,914 in Syria.

A magnitude 7.8 quake struck on February 6, followed by other tremors. At least 118,000 buildings in Turkey have either collapsed or are at risk of doing so.

Hasan Vural, governor of the southern district of Elbistan, told NHK that a few buildings in his municipality collapsed when the first quake struck, but a second powerful tremor nine hours later flattened nearly 1,400 buildings.

He added that 930 local people have been confirmed dead and more than 3,300 injured.

He said about 20,000 of the district's population of over 140,000 have evacuated to other areas. An estimated 12,000 are living in makeshift shelters or tents.

The governor said he believes that people will be able to return to their daily lives in six to 12 months.