Turkey on Sunday said it has ended rescue efforts in all but two provinces, nearly two weeks after massive earthquakes left tens of thousands dead, AFP reported.

Over 44,000 persons died in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria after the region was struck by two powerful earthquakes and numerous aftershocks.

The initial 7.8-magnitude earthquake had hit close to the Turkish city of Gaziantep early on February 6. It was followed by another earthquake of 7.5 magnitude and several aftershocks, causing widespread destruction.

Yunus Sezer, the chief of the country’s disaster agency said on Sunday that search and rescue efforts will continue in the provinces of Kahramanmaras and Hatay. He said that the operations were going on at about 40 buildings in the two provinces, but that he expected the number to come down by the evening hours, the BBC reported.

A medical facility set up by the Indian Army in the Hatay’s province’s Iskenderun city also concluded its services on Sunday. Visuals released by the Army showed the team receiving applause from local residents.

Meanwhile, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey on Sunday, in a trip that had been planned before the disaster.

He will travel to Hatay to see rescue efforts, after which he will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

Earlier this month, Erdogan had acknowledged that there were challenges in delivering aid due to damaged transport links, but said the situation had been brought under control.

On the situation in Syria, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the compounding crises of conflict, Covid-19, cholera, economic decline, and the earthquake had taken an unbearable toll.