This is the worst hit area that I have seen since arriving in Turkey. The authorities put the dead in the hundreds, but the final figure will be be much higher.

The scale of the destruction hits you when you reach the main street. Here, all that you can see is rubble - as if the town had been bombarded.

Buildings severely damaged by the earthquake hang over what used to be the street and the authorities are bringing in bulldozers to pull them down.

At first they feared that this would lead to more people being crushed, but they know the buildings have to come down.

Waiting in the streets

But the most amazing thing is that all of those who have survived the earthquake are outside, and almost the entire city's population is standing in queues.

Many of them are homeless and the rest are too afraid to return to the buildings.

People are putting tents up anywhere they can and there are hundreds of queues with thousands of people across the city - all of them waiting to get some shelter. There are queues for water, queues for bread.

People are queuing to use what few telephones remain and are then allowed only 10 seconds to contact relatives.

There have been spontaneous outbursts of anger as people have queued for supplies. Some still have not slept and they are hungry and thirsty. The people are exhausted.

Time running out

Many people have now given up hope of finding survivors beneath the rubble. Their thoughts are turning to how they can survive themselves.

It is exhausting work

But what is clear is that, even though the local authorities say they are doing the best they can, they cannot cope with the sheer scale of the disaster. They are completely overwhelmed.

Earlier, I joined members of Rapid UK, one of the British rescue teams now working in Turkey. As they moved around the area they were pulled in all directions by people desperate to try to search for their relatives buried below the rubble.

The weather is so hot that the dogs who track down people buried below the rubble are already exhausted.

It is clear to everyone here that the teams will never be able to search all the homes in time.