[ad_1]
After the severe earthquake in the Aegean Sea with numerous fatalities, rescue teams have continued their search for survivors in the city of Izmir, in western Turkey. On Saturday, search parties recovered three children and their mother alive from the rubble of an eight-story building to applause, state broadcaster TRT reported.
Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca later told reporters that one of the children had died. According to the station, a fourth buried child will be recovered. Rescuers had previously been able to contact the woman.
“When you hear my voice, knock three times,” said an assistant. Then the woman gave a beep. According to the Environment and City Minister Murat Kurum, a total of 100 people were rescued from the rubble. Around 5000 rescuers and 20 search dogs are in action.
The death toll in Turkey rose to 35 in the early hours of Saturday night, Koca announced. There were 823 injured, 8 of them were being treated in the intensive care unit. Two people died on the Greek island of Samos.
[Wenn Sie alle aktuellen Nachrichten live auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere runderneuerte App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and promised to quickly rebuild the destroyed buildings in Turkey. “Every earthquake reminds us that our country is in a dangerous (seismological) zone,” he added.
The Foreign Ministry has yet to receive any indication that the Germans may be among those killed and wounded. The embassy in Athens, the Greek capital, and the consulate in Izmir, Turkey, are still in contact with the responsible authorities, he said Saturday night.
Thousands of people spent the night in emergency shelters, according to Izmir City Mayor Tunc Soyer. Tents were set up and helpers distributed food in the parks, as can be seen in the images.
Also on Samos, people slept outdoors, in cars or without a roof over their heads for fear of aftershocks, according to Greek media. Initially there were no reports of affected tourists; anyway, the main season in the Aegean is over and travel is only possible on a limited basis due to the corona pandemic.
Meanwhile, the earth continued to shake, throughout the night and also on Saturday morning there were aftershocks, some of which reached a strength of 4 or more. According to disaster control authority Afad, there was an aftershock with a magnitude of 5.0 on Saturday morning in the region of Turkey’s western Seferihisar district.
The first earthquake on Friday at 2:51 pm local time (12:51 pm CET) had a magnitude of 6.6 according to the Turkish disaster authority. Therefore, the center was in the Aegean Sea, opposite the Turkish province of Izmir. The USGS, which is responsible for the earthquakes, even gave the earthquake a strength of 7.
Schools in Izmir closed for a week
According to initial findings, the earthquake occurred very close to the surface. It is also said to be extraordinarily long, around 30 seconds, as announced by the Samos city council. Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu wrote on Twitter that six buildings collapsed and other buildings were damaged.
According to various reports, the earthquake should have been felt in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul and even the Greek capital, Athens.
According to the provincial governor, at least four buildings completely collapsed in Izmir. The Bayrakli district of the coastal city was particularly affected. According to official information, aides continued to search eight buildings for survivors on Saturday. Izmir schools were closed for a week.
During the night there were dramatic scenes. A woman named Buse Hasyilmaz became the symbol of the catastrophe, was rescued from the rubble of a seven-story building after almost ten hours and had previously been able to telephone the helpers.
Passersby and emergency services applauded as they were carried away on stretchers. Another woman and a 16-year-old girl were rescued from a collapsed building after 17 hours, Minister Kurum said. TRT recordings showed how helpers rescued a cat from the rubble.
Over and over again, the emergency services called for silence so they could hear voices. A crane lifted concrete blocks from the rubble. According to the most recent information, around 5,000 search and rescue teams and 20 search dogs were in action.
The second great wave of tsunami does not materialize
According to Greek media reports, two 17-year-olds were found dead on Friday afternoon in Samos. The girl and boy are said to have been walking home in the small town of Vathy after school when the walls of a house collapsed due to the earthquake in a narrow alley.
In both Samos and the west coast of Turkey, a tsunami after Friday’s earthquake caused the water to overflow. The Potsdam Helmholtz Center classified the tsunami as moderate, a second large wave did not materialize, contrary to isolated warnings.
[Alle wichtigen Updates des Tages zum Coronavirus finden Sie im kostenlosen Tagesspiegel-Newsletter “Fragen des Tages”. Dazu die wichtigsten Nachrichten, Leseempfehlungen und Debatten. Zur Anmeldung geht es hier.]
Photos from Samos showed dragged cars, which then stopped on the other side of the street; Stores and basements were flooded. Turkey is very prone to earthquakes. As recently as January, two earthquakes in the eastern Turkish cities of Elazig and Malatya killed more than 40 people.
Turkey is one of the countries most affected by earthquakes in the world. In August 1999, more than 17,000 people died in a 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
Turkish President Erdogan addressed the population in a speech on Friday night. Help the people affected by the earthquake by all means. Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis offered each other assistance in a phone call, Anadolu reported.
Mitsotakis expressed his condolences to Turkey on Twitter, writing: “Whatever our disagreements, these are times when people have to stand together.” Erdogan also thanked him on Twitter and replied: “That two neighbors show solidarity in difficult times is more important than many things in life.”
The governments of Athens and Ankara are currently at odds due to controversial gas exploration in Turkey and border disputes in the eastern Mediterranean.
EU Council President Charles Michel has offered aid to Turkey and Greece after the severe earthquake in the East Aegean. “My thoughts are with all those affected,” Michel wrote on Twitter on Friday. “The EU is ready to provide support.” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also offered help. (dpa, AFP)
