Georgia will send a rescue equipment and rescuers to Turkey to assist in the response to the earthquake that has left hundreds dead.

"According to the decision Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the government of Georgia will send appropriate equipment and rescuers to participate in the rescue measures in the next few hours. Employees of the Emergency Situations Management Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia will be involved in the fight against the consequences of the earthquake in Turkey," the PM's office said.

More background: A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck central Turkey and northwest Syria early on Monday morning, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds as buildings collapsed across the region, triggering searches for survivors in the rubble.

Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay said 284 people had been killed and 2,323 people were injured, as authorities scrambled rescue teams and supply aircraft to the affected area, while declaring a “level 4 alarm” that calls for international assistance.

In Syria, already devastated by more than 11 years of civil war, a government health official said more than 237 people had been killed and some 600 injured, most in the provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia, where numerous buildings tumbled down.

Reuters reports president Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by telephone with the governors of eight affected provinces to gather information on the situation and rescue efforts, his office said in a statement.