BEIJING

Türkiye's ambassador to Beijing said Friday that 600 tons of aid materials have been sent from China following last week's deadly earthquakes in southern Türkiye.

Participating in a welcoming ceremony in the capital Beijing for the returning Chinese search and rescue teams, Abdulkadir Emin Onen said that among the materials delivered to Türkiye were 10,000 tents, 112,000 blankets, and sleeping bags as well as nearly 1,000 generators, heaters, and first aid materials.

Onen said that 22,000 more tents are being prepared to be sent to the disaster zone in a week.

At least 38,044 people were killed by the two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6, the country's disaster agency said early Friday.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes were centered in Kahramanmaras and struck 10 other provinces – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Kilis, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa. More than 13 million people have been affected by the devastating quakes.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.