Rescuers in Turkey have pulled more people from the rubble of Monday's earthquakes, but hopes were fading in Turkey and Syria that many more survivors would be found.

UN relief chief Martin Griffiths has said he expects the death toll to at least double, after he arrived in southern Turkey on Saturday to assess the quake's damage.

With a death toll of at least 24,517 in Turkey, the disaster is already in the list of the top 10 deadliest earthquakes ever. More than 3,500 have died in Syria, where death tolls have not been updated since Friday.

Between Monday and Saturday, the area experienced more than 2,000 aftershocks, according to Turkey's AFAD disaster authority.

Germany to offer fast-track visa option for Turkish quake victims

Germany's Foreign and Interior ministries have announced plans to enable Turkish quake survivors who have relatives in Germany to temporarily stay with them.

The two ministries have set up a task force to fast-track the paperwork and reduce the necessary bureaucracy.

"The goal is to make the visa process for these cases as unbureaucratic as possible," said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said this would be done with regular visas, which would be swiftly issued and remain valid for three months.

"We want to make it possible for Turkish or Syrian families in Germany to bring close relatives from the disaster region to join them without red tape," Faeser wrote on Twitter.

Germany is home to the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.

'Absolutely unfair' to be accused of neglecting aid — EU envoy to Syria

The European Union's envoy to Syria has urged Damascus not to politicize issues of humanitarian aid, rejecting accusations that the bloc had failed to provide sufficient help to Syrians.

"It is absolutely unfair to be accused of not providing aid, when actually we have constantly been doing exactly that for over a decade and we are doing so much more even during the earthquake crisis," Dan Stoenescu told the Reuters news agency.

He said the EU had gathered more than €50 million ($53 million) to provide aid and back rescue missions and first aid in both government-held and rebel-controlled parts of Syria.

A 30-ton shipment of humanitarian aid from the Italian government — including four ambulances and 13 pallets of medical equipment — landed in Beirut on Saturday en route to Damascus.

The first shipment of earthquake-related aid crossed from Turkey into Syria's rebel-held enclave on Friday.

Humanitarian access to northern Syria is complicated by the civil war, while sending funds can be blocked or slowed by sanctions, despite an exemption for relief efforts.