AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening, and welcome to the "NewsHour."

An air of desperation is growing in Turkey and Syria tonight, as the chance of finding earthquake survivors grows dimmer by the hour.

GEOFF BENNETT: The death toll has grown to at least 12,000, with an unknown number still missing.

Jane Ferguson reports from Adana in Southern Turkey, where Hatay Province, with Idlib Province in Syria, are among the worst-hit areas.

JANE FERGUSON: The combing through the dust and debris of apartment blocks continues in Turkey.

There were over 90 people inside this one when it collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning.

So far, only two gravely wounded survivors have been found, locals tell us.

Periodically, the rescue workers stop what they're doing, machinery is turned off, and everyone falls quiet and listens for the sound of survivors under their feet.

What appears as though a silent tribute to the dead is actually still hope for the living.

But desperate relatives waiting on the pavement nearby know that hope is fading.

SONGUL TEMURLENK, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): I have an aunt here and then aunt's husband and then daughters, three person inside.

JANE FERGUSON: So, a three-person family?

SONGUL TEMURLENK: Yes.

JANE FERGUSON: Have any of them been pulled from the rubble?

SONGUL TEMURLENK: No.

We don't know what's happened.

But they live in first floor, but here is 14 floors.

So, it's very difficult to find life there, I think.

JANE FERGUSON: There is an unspoken understanding here that the search for survivors is turning into the recovery of bodies.

There are thousands of rescue workers just like this spread out across Southern Turkey still digging through the rubble, still determined to pull survivors from underneath collapsed buildings.

But three whole days since the earthquakes struck, the likelihood of finding anyone still alive diminishes every hour.

President Erdogan visited the quake zone today and met with displaced families in a tent city.

He addressed the growing criticism about Turkey's delayed disaster response.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (through translator): As of now, a total of 21,200 personnel of the military, Gendarmerie and police are on duty in Hatay.

Despite this, some dishonest people are campaigning in Hatay and are making false statements.

Certainly, there have been shortfalls as the conditions have been clear.

It is impossible to be prepared to face a disaster like this.

JANE FERGUSON: With elections due in May, this is a testy time for Erdogan.

Restricting social media preemptively during a crisis is a common practice adopted by his administration.

In the hard-hit southern city of Antakya, much needed aid is slowly trickling in.

CEYLAN AKARCA, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): We have no water, no food.

We have nothing.

I want help and nothing else.

I don't care about shelter, so long as my children are safe.

AHMET TOKGOZ, Turkish Earthquake Survivor (through translator): They have to evacuate people from cities.

You cannot live here, especially in this cold.

There are small children.

If people haven't died from being stuck under the rubble, they will die from the cold.

JANE FERGUSON: Across the border in Northwest Syria, more scenes of utter devastation in Idlib province.

In Haram, the battle continues to save lives; 200 people are trapped under rubble.

All that's left are signs of a childhood lost.

After more than a decade of civil war, getting aid into the opposition-held province was already hard.

Now it's nearly impossible.

None has reached thus far, leaving many to fend off a brutal winter now out in the cold.

Locals and rescuers also lack the tools they need and the manpower, as they painstakingly comb through the rubble.

Mustafa Al-Khalaf is part of that effort, helping residents whose homes were destroyed.

MUSTAFA AL-KHALAF, Syrian Rescue Worker (through translator): Evacuation teams have been working for more than 48 hours to rescue survivors from the rubble and to extract the dead bodies.

Truthfully, evacuation teams have only the most basic supplies.

JANE FERGUSON: One man told us 25 of his family members lie dead under this collapsed building.

WALEED AL-IBRAHIM, Syrian Earthquake Survivor (through translator): It obliterated this entire area.

I urge your help.

Today, we lost close to 25 martyrs, my uncle and his children, wives, other children and women.

We extracted seven, but there were about 17 or 18 martyrs under the wreckage that we weren't able to extract from the lack of ability.

JANE FERGUSON: Those who did survive are homeless, like this family now living in a temporary shelter for those who've lost everything.

MARYAM AMINU, Syrian Earthquake Survivor (through translator): We are in need of clothes for the children.

We do not have any.

We don't have any money to spend.

We don't have food.

We women are suffering in the cold and the rain.

Here, no one is helping us.

In other countries, even when there is a small earthquake, the whole world stands with them.

But here in Idlib, the children have been under the rubble for three days.

No one is helping them.

Why?

JANE FERGUSON: Desperation is now mingled with frustration, as the urgency to find more survivors grows.

But here, as in Turkey, with each passing minute, these rescuers become collectors, adding to the horrific accounting of this disaster.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Jane Ferguson in Adana, Turkey.