Now the question remains: How do these countries handle the hundreds of thousands left homeless and jobless in its wake?
More than 158,000 people have left the quake zone in southern Turkey.
22-year-old Syrian Hamza Bekry, has lived in Hatay - one of the worst affected areas in Turkey - for 12 years.
He's now heading west on a bus, having lost everything and preparing to start, as he says, "from zero".
But among the survivors, shock is also turning to anger.
Across the border in the Syrian city of Harem, north of rebel-held Idlib, a makeshift camp has been set up among the ruins.
29-year-old father Mazen Al-Fahed tells Reuters people are working round the clock to create shelter but that they are desperate for basic supplies.
In Turkey alone, the cost of the earthquake could cost Ankara up to $84.1 billion, according to one business group.
According to official government figures, some 42,000 buildings have either collapsed, were in urgent need of demolition, or severely damaged across 10 cities.
While President Erdogan has said the state will rebuild the quake hit areas within a year...
Those those left behind are simply in need of shelter.
