"At 9:45 pm (1845 GMT) the Kurdistan region's oil exports resumed via the pipeline connecting the area with Turkey," the Kurdish ministry of natural resources said in a statement.

The northern region usually exports around 450,000 barrels of oil a day through Turkey, and has continued to pump oil out of the country despite the federal authorities demanding a halt to the trade.

On Monday, authorities had said that "to ensure the safety of oil exports and prevent any undesirable incidents, oil exports through the pipeline connecting the Kurdistan region to Turkey have been suspended".

Authorities had said exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port would resume after inspection of pipelines.

Rescuers in Turkey and Syria were battling on Tuesday to find survivors under buildings flattened by the earthquake that killed more than 7,300 people.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck early on Monday as people slept, trapping an unknown number and potentially impacting millions.