THE devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria have killed at least 50,000 people with many more injured, tens of thousands still missing and hundreds of thousands homeless, the UN humanitarian chief has said.

Martin Griffiths told the UN security council on Tuesday that three weeks after the magnitude 7.8 quake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by strong aftershocks including on Monday, the scale of the disaster is now much clearer.

At least 44,000 people have been killed in Turkey and about 6,000 in Syria, mainly in the rebel-held north-west.