BEIRUT — A powerful earthquake hit southern Turkey near the Syrian border early Monday, followed by aftershocks, and was felt in Syria and as far as Lebanon, Cyprus, Iraq and Egypt.

At least 207 were reported dead and hundreds more injured from the quake, The Associated Press reported, adding that the number of casualties was expected to rise. Dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across the border region.

The 7.8 magnitude quake’s epicenter was located near the cities of Nurdağı and Gaziantep, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Images shared on social media from southern Turkey and northeast Syria show panicked scenes of families running in the rain or snow amid the debris of collapsed buildings. In Lebanon, the quake was powerful enough to make whole buildings sway.

The earthquake also struck parts of northeast Syria, causing multiple buildings to collapse. Footage from local journalists showed families running through the rain and the darkness in panic amid the debris of devastated homes.

“Truthfully the situation is disastrous,” Raed Saleh, the head of the White Helmets civil defense group which operates in northern Syria told NPR. He said cities and villages across northern Syria are affected. “In all these areas buildings have fallen to the ground and the teams are working on them. And all of these buildings have people under the rubble. The hospitals are all completely full. The situation is literally tragic.

“We can’t estimate the damages or know how many people have been killed,” he said. He said he saw three collapsed buildings “with families under the rubble” while on his way to the group’s operations room. Rescue teams are helping them as he coordinates the broader search and rescue mission. “I’m sending out calls for the people to stay outside their houses in the streets because of the damage. It might not be safe for them to stay at home as these buildings could collapse. But there’s a storm ongoing with rain and snow.”

Hamid Qutayni, a rescue worker with the White Helmets told NPR there are “tens of families” trapped under collapsed buildings. He listed how many people are known to have died in different towns and villages. “In Sarmada there are seven deaths; Ma’arrat Misrin has two deaths; Darkush has three deaths including a child. In Deres, there are also three children who have diedk villages in the northern Aleppo countryside have reported deaths and in the Idlib countryside too. The reports are coming in from everywhere because the situation is very bad.”

The earthquake in northern Syria hit parts of the country that have been already been devastated by more than a decade of civil war. In Idlib and Aleppo provinces, basic infrastructure has already been badly damaged by the war. The area is also home to millions of Syrians who fled the fighting in other parts of the country. Many live in refugee camps or basic tented settlements established amid the olive groves that run along the border with Turkey.

Jomah al Qassim, a Syrian living across the border in the Turkish town of Gazientep works for Bahar Organisation, a charity that operates in Syria and in Iraq.

“According to our team in Syria, there are many casualties and damage to the buildings. Many are reported dead,” he told NPR. “This is the last thing people need in Syria. There has been crisis after crisis. People are already exhausted.”

The United Nations monitoring body, the OCHA, says of the population of 4.6 million people in northwest Syria, some 4.1 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. More than three million residents of the area are food insecure.

The region’s hospitals have been badly damaged in the conflict. Idlib is outside of government-controlled parts of Syria. Its hospitals have been repeatedly hit with airstrikes by the air force of the Syrian regime, or by its ally Russia. The airstrikes have been so frequent that doctors and aid organizations have set up medical facilities underground in an effort to shelter them from the attacks.

This is a developing story and will be updated.