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Image posted, Reuters
Rescue teams in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir continue to search for possible survivors of Friday’s powerful earthquake, and authorities say the death toll has risen to at least 75.
Authorities said 73 people died in the earthquake in Turkey, while two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos.
Dozens of people are still missing after the earthquake.
A 70-year-old man was pulled from the rubble of a building in Izmir after being trapped for 33 hours.
The US Geological Survey said Friday’s earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0, but that Turkey lowered it to 6.6.
The earthquake triggered tsunamis, which were described as small tsunamis, that struck coastal areas and islands in both Turkey and Greece.
What are the latest news?
Rescuers search the rubble of collapsed buildings in western Turkey for a third day, hoping to find survivors.
A 70-year-old man, Ahmed Setim, was pulled from the rubble of a destroyed apartment building in Izmir in the early hours of Sunday morning and taken to hospital.
Turkish Health Minister Fakhruddin Kuja visited Settem in hospital and said he was fine.
And Turkey’s Department of Emergency and Disaster Management announced Sunday night that the death toll had reached 73, according to the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
The Emergency Department reported that 949 people were injured, of which 220 are still in treatment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government “is determined to heal the wounds of our brothers and sisters in Izmir before the cold and rain begins.”
At an earlier press conference in Izmir, Vice President Fuad Aktay said 26 badly damaged buildings would be demolished.
What happened on Friday?
Image posted, Reuters
The earthquake struck 14 kilometers (nine miles) from the Greek city of Karlovasi on the island of Samos at 1:51 p.m. local time (11:51 GMT), according to the United States Geological Survey.
She said the earthquake, which residents felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul, occurred at a depth of 21 kilometers, although Turkish authorities said it occurred 16 kilometers underground.
Most of the damage occurred in Izmir, off the Turkish Aegean coast, where the earthquake caused many people to take to the streets in fear and panic.
Chris Bedford, a retired British teacher living in Orla, west of Izmir, told the BBC: “It was a strong earthquake that made us sink and fall to the ground. As we tried to flee out of the house. We were reeling like drunkards.” .
Floods were reported in Izmir after sea level rise, killing one person after his wheelchair collided and tipped over due to rising waters.
Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey, with a population close to three million.
Turkey and Greece are on fault lines. Earthquakes are common in both countries.
And Greece?
Two teenagers died when a wall collapsed in Samos. Eight people were injured across the island, where some 45,000 people reside.
A small tsunami washed away the port of Samos and damaged several buildings. Greek officials estimated the earthquake’s strength to be 6.7 on the Richter scale.
“We are very sorry for that,” local journalist Manos Stefanakis told the BBC.
Farid Atta, another journalist from Samos, told the BBC that the damage was “extensive along the promenade” of the island’s main city.
“Many companies will collapse as a result of the earthquake,” he said.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis offered his condolences to Erdogan.
“Whatever our differences, these are times when our people need to be united,” Mitsotakis wrote in a tweet.
Erdogan later responded in a tweet: “Turkey is also always ready to help Greece heal its wounds. Neighbors showing solidarity in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life.”
Relations between Greece and Turkey have been particularly strained in recent months due to a dispute over control of territorial waters in the Mediterranean and the resources below them.
