Doctors Without Borders provides aid for earthquake survivors in Syria

The situation in Syria is "really tough" after a devastating earthquake hit the region on Monday, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, told CNN.

"The search and rescue is hampered by the situation here where there is a lack of heavy equipment and machinery to clear the rubble," he said. "The situation in Syria is really, really, tough. Beyond the crisis that we have been given, it's not easy to import things.... It's not easy to find spare parts for that equipment. And nobody expected this anyway – so it wasn't at the top of priorities."

Benlamlih said the work will continue, “and we have teams in Aleppo and Hama, and other places trying to assess the situation."

Many buildings collapsed around northwest Syria during the earthquake, and more could still fall, Benlamlih said.

"Buildings in those places are already very vulnerable, and it might not be a surprise to have other buildings coming down. Particularly as we're facing also very tough conditions of work with the rain, and with the snow that is I think expected tonight in all of northwest Syria," Benlamlih said.

"Many people are very scared. They don't want to go back to their houses if we can call them houses, in these cases," Benlamlih said, "They are afraid of the tremors. So they are spending their nights in freezing temperatures."

Benlamlih said that the UN has a stock of supplies they have been distributed, but more supplies are needed.