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LingakuLingaku岂止 + [noun] / [number + measure word]，[clause]
[subject] + 岂止 + (是) + [predicate]，[clause]
岂止 is a rhetorical question, "how could it be only …?", and it means far more than the thing that follows. A speaker uses it to push back against a figure or description that falls short of the truth, and the next clause usually gives the real amount.
It also widens who or what is involved: not just this one, but many more.
岂止 + adjective, followed by 简直 "simply", raises the description to a stronger one.
不止 states a fact: more than this number. 岂止 says the same thing as a retort, with surprise or emphasis, often in reply to what someone has just said, and it belongs more to writing.