Eight Zimbabwean students learning in Turkey are safe after the devastating earthquake that ripped through parts of Turkey and Syria early Monday morning.

In an interview this morning, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Turkey, Alfred Mutiwazuka, said he had not received reports of Zimbabweans killed in the earthquake.

"We have a sad situation here but from a Zimbabwean perspective, we know of eight university students learning here," he said.

"All of them are safe and have been given tents by rescue teams.

"We will continue to check if there are any other Zimbabweans who might have been affected."

Ambassador Mutiwazuka said he has been unable to visit the affected area because Turkish authorities do not want rescue operations to be disturbed.

Turkish authorities have indicated that 2 921 people have so far died after its southeastern region sharing the border with Syria was hit by major earthquakes.

A further 1 444 people have been killed by the earthquake in Syria.

The initial magnitude 7.8 tremor early on Monday brought down buildings as people slept and was followed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hours later, amid several aftershocks.

The United States Geological Survey said the initial earthquake was centred about 33km (20 miles) from Gaziantep, a major Turkish city and provincial capital.

A number of countries have promised help in the search and rescue operations being hampered by cold and snow.