WATCH: State Department says U.S. will help Turkey, Syria after earthquake

The U.S. State Department offered its condolences to the people of Turkey and Syria after a power 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 3,400 people in those two countries.

Watch the briefing in the player above.

“The Department of State is in close contact with our Turkish allies and our humanitarian partners, and our initial assistance response is already underway,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said. “We are determined to provide any and all assistance to help those affected by these earthquakes.”

Authorities feared the death toll would keep climbing as rescuers searched through tangles of metal and concrete for survivors in a region beset by Syria’s 12-year civil war and a refugee crisis.

Rescue efforts unfolded as darkness, rain and cold enveloped the region of Turkey and Syria devastated by the quake and another major one that hit hours later. Civilians have joined rescuers in desperate efforts to aid survivors.

The quake, which was centered on Turkey’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras, sent residents of Damascus and Beirut rushing into the street and was felt as far away as Cairo.

READ MORE: How to help victims of the 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Thousands of search-and-rescue personnel, firefighters and medics were working across 10 provinces, along with some 3,500 soldiers. Residents lifted rubble and unearthed people heard screaming from beneath buildings. Aftershocks made rescue efforts more dangerous.

Turkish military ambulance planes were transporting the injured to Istanbul and Ankara hospitals, the defense ministry said. Rescuers from across Turkey tried to make it to the provinces amid heavy snow and rain. But many in Hatay said they didn’t have sufficient help and were worried about the miles of wreckage and those trapped within it.

The quake piled more misery on a region that has seen tremendous suffering over the past decade. On the Syrian side, the area is divided between government-held territory and the country’s last opposition-held enclave, which is surrounded by Russian-backed government forces. Turkey, meanwhile, is home to millions of refugees from the civil war.

Offers of help — from search-and-rescue teams to medical supplies and money — poured in from dozens of countries, as well as the European Union and NATO. The vast majority were for Turkey, with Russian and even an Israeli promise of help to the Syrian government, but it was not clear if any would go to the devastated rebel-held pocket in the northwest.

“Humanitarian crossings need to remain open,” Price said. “The people of Syria need humanitarian access. NGO actors, these organizations, many of whom have been active in parts of Syria over the course of a dozen years now, need to have access to be able to to go back and forth across the border.”