"Although this war has drained many national resources and weakened the ability to withstand a greater number of crises, it has given the Syrian society the experience and strength to respond quickly and effectively in the first hours of the earthquake," Assad said in his address to the public, as broadcast by Syrian media.
At the same time, the scale of the recent earthquakes has greatly exceeded the country's capabilities, the Syrian president said, adding that the society also managed to surpass the available capacities when dealing with the consequences of the disaster.
In addition, Assad commended the urgent assistance from friendly and "brotherly" countries that had supported the national efforts to mitigate the aftermath of the earthquakes and rescue the victims.
On February 6, parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks. The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey exceeded 36,000.
The Syrian Health Ministry said late Tuesday that the final death toll from the earthquake had reached 1,414 people. However, this data does not include information on non-government controlled territories. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated the total number of deaths from earthquakes in Syria at 8,500.