Heartrending scenes of a newborn plucked alive from the rubble and a broken father clutching his dead daughter's hand have laid bare the human cost of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey that by Wednesday had claimed over 9,500 lives.

For two days and nights since the 7.8 magnitude quake an impromptu army of rescuers have worked in freezing temperatures to find those still entombed among ruins in several cities either side of the border.

Officially, the death toll from the disaster now stands at 6,957 people dead in Turkey and 2,547 in Syria, bringing the total to 9,504 – but that could yet double if the worst fears of experts are realised.

The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that time is running out for the thousands injured and those still feared trapped.

For Mesut Hancer, a resident of the Turkish city Kahramanmaras, near the epicentre, it is already too late.

He sat on the freezing rubble, too grief-stricken to speak, refusing to let go of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak's hand as her body lay lifeless among the slabs of concrete and strands of twisted rebar.

And frustration is growing that help has been slow to arrive.

"I can't get my brother back from the ruins. I can't get my nephew back. Look around here. There is no state official here, for God's sake," said Ali Sagiroglu in Kahramanmaras.

Across the border in northern Syria, a decade of civil war and Syrian-Russian aerial bombardment had already destroyed hospitals, collapsed the economy and prompted electricity, fuel and water shortages.

In the rebel-controlled town of Jindayris, even the joy of rescuing a newborn baby was tainted with sadness. She was still tethered to her mother who was killed in the disaster.

The World Health Organization has warned that up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake and urged nations to rush help to the disaster zone.

The Syrian Red Crescent appealed to Western countries to lift sanctions and provide aid as President Bashar al-Assad's government remains a pariah in the West, complicating international relief efforts.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would not work with the Damascus government.

"These funds, of course, go to the Syrian people – not to the regime. That won't change," he said.

Aid agencies have also asked the Syrian government to allow border crossings to be reopened to bring help to rebel-held areas. (AFP)