How do they know how many people died so soon after a major disaster?

Question

In Turkey and Syria now they’re saying 1,800 people died already. Is it as simple as counting the bodies and reporting that?

In: 6513

Answer 1

They make estimates based on a number of known figures, like X number of people lived in whatever building, and they estimate downwards. That’s why the figures go up throughout the period immediately afterwards, those figures get revised based on emergency responders, hospitals, etc.