The death toll from Monday's devastating earthquake in Turkiye and Syria has risen to 15,383, according to data released by authorities and rescuers.

Turkiye sits in an earthquake hot spot. Three tectonic plates — the Arabian, Anatolian and African plates — meet in this region.

The Arabian plate is plowing northward at a rate of about 11 millimeters (just under a half-inch) per year, said Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at University College London. Turkiye, which sits on the Anatolian plate, is therefore being squeezed westward.

The lack of recent large earthquakes in the last century along that fault, combined with the northward movement of the Arabian plate, suggest there was pent-up strain in the region, he said.

It's also a densely populated area, which increases the danger of destruction and loss of life.

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