Rescue workers extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey on Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 46 and injuring more than 900 people.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, raised the death toll in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, to 44 as rescuers pulled more bodies out of toppled buildings. Two teenagers were killed Friday on the Greek island of Samos and at least 19 others were injured.
Click to Gallery
Rescue workers extricated a 70-year-old man from a collapsed building in western Turkey on Sunday, some 34 hours after a strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea struck Turkey and Greece, killing at least 46 and injuring more than 900 people.
A small tsunami was triggered in the Seferihisar district of Izmir, drowning one elderly woman, and on the Greek island. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as the Greek capital, Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.
Search-and-rescue teams continued work in nine buildings in Izmir as day broke on the third day.
A child sleeps on the shoulder of a relative, as the family stays outdoors for fear of aftershocks, in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Rescue teams on Saturday ploughed through concrete blocs and debris of eight collapsed buildings in Turkey's third largest city in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing dozens. Hundreds of others were injured. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
Members of rescue services search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. A strong earthquake struck Friday in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, killing several people and injuring hundreds amid collapsed buildings and flooding. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
The Friday afternoon earthquake, which the Istanbul-based Kandilli Institute said had a magnitude of 6.9, was centered in the Aegean northeast of Samos. AFAD said it measured 6.6 and hit at a depth of some 16 kilometers (10 miles).
A member of rescue services works during the ongoing search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. A strong earthquake struck Friday in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, killing several people and injuring hundreds amid collapsed buildings and flooding. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
A small tsunami was triggered in the Seferihisar district of Izmir, drowning one elderly woman, and on the Greek island. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as the Greek capital, Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.
AFAD said 896 people were injured in Turkey.
Ahmet Citim, 70, was pulled out from the rubble shortly after midnight Sunday and was hospitalized. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that the man said: “I never lost my hope.”
Members of a family, staying outdoors for fear of aftershocks, try to stay warm, in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Rescue teams on Saturday ploughed through concrete blocs and debris of eight collapsed buildings in Turkey's third largest city in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing dozens. Hundreds of others were injured. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
Search-and-rescue teams continued work in nine buildings in Izmir as day broke on the third day.
Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999, two powerful quakes killed some 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Earthquakes are frequent in Greece as well.
The quake occurred as Turkey was already struggling with an economic downturn and the coronavirus pandemic. So far, more than 10,000 people with the virus have died in Turkey.
Local residents, staying outdoors for fear of aftershocks, watch as members of rescue services search in the debris of a collapsed building for survivors in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Rescue teams on Saturday ploughed through concrete blocs and debris of eight collapsed buildings in Turkey's third largest city in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing dozens. Hundreds of others were injured. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
A child sleeps on the shoulder of a relative, as the family stays outdoors for fear of aftershocks, in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. Rescue teams on Saturday ploughed through concrete blocs and debris of eight collapsed buildings in Turkey's third largest city in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey's Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing dozens. Hundreds of others were injured. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)
Members of rescue services search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. A strong earthquake struck Friday in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos, killing several people and injuring hundreds amid collapsed buildings and flooding. (AP PhotoEmrah Gurel)