Rescuers rush to find Turkey earthquake survivors, 27 dead

Volunteers clear debris as they search for survivors in a collapsed building after a strong earthquake shook the country’s west coast and parts of Greece, killing four people and injuring 120, in Izmir, on October 30, 2020. – A powerful earthquake shook Greece and Turkey. , causing buildings to collapse and a storm surge that flooded the streets of the Turkish resort city of Izmir. Greek public television said the earthquake also triggered a mini tsunami on the island of Samos in the eastern Aegean Sea, damaging buildings. The United States Geological Survey said the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck 14 kilometers (8.6 miles) from the Greek city of Karlovasi on Samos. (Photo by Mert CAKIR / AFP)

BAYRAKLI, Turkey – Rescue teams raced against time on Saturday to save people buried under the rubble as hundreds of people spent a terrifying night in tents after a powerful earthquake claimed 27 lives in Turkey and Greece.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed 25 people and injured 804 on the western coast of Turkey after it struck Friday afternoon, with its epicenter off the coastal city of Seferihisar in Izmir province.

It also killed two teenagers on its way home from school in Greece, caused a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a storm surge that turned streets into rushing rivers in a Turkish coastal city.

In Bayrakli, Turkish families and friends watched in agony, exhaustion and hope as workers painstakingly traversed the rubble of two buildings that were completely washed away by the earthquake.

Just five minutes across town, concerned crowds watched as a black bag was pulled from another collapsed building in the early hours of Saturday.

“Let me see who it is!” a man screamed.

In small green spaces near the damaged buildings, the municipality set up large white tents for the survivors, while the Ministry of Health medical rescue teams provided smaller tents for frightened families.

Throughout the night, hot soup and water were available for those waiting outside as the temperature dropped.

Azize Akkoyun watched the rescuers work.

“Those curtains belonged to my daughter’s in-laws,” Akkoyun told AFP, while waiting for news.

“We will wait all night. God willing, they will make it out alive, ”he said, adding that they were unable to reach them by phone.

‘We are helpless’

Residents said Bayrakli, with a population of more than 300,000, was a rapidly developing district with new buildings popping up on the outskirts of the Aegean resort town of Izmir.

A few steps away, crushing concrete, heavy machinery and dust filled the air, except for the moments when everything stopped in hopes of hearing the long-awaited call for help from a survivor.

When Cemalettin Enginyurt, 51, and her family settled inside her white tent, she described feeling “helpless.”

The retired soldier said his family’s home suffered “severe” cracks and that he feared that people would not be able to tell whether their homes were fit to return.

“As it is currently and with the risk of aftershocks, we decided that the solution was to stay outside. Izmir has a mild climate, we will be fine in the short term but we are not sure in the long term, ”he said.

Hope grew that more survivors could be found following reports in state media that a 53- and 62-year-old man was rescued about 17 hours after the earthquake.

The government’s disaster agency, AFAD, said 100 people were taken alive.

The latest disaster will renew fears about when Istanbul will be hit by a major earthquake after the devastating 7.4 magnitude in 1999 in Izmit, western Turkey.

Some 17,000 people died then, including 1,000 in Istanbul.

This is the second powerful earthquake to hit Turkey this year after one in the eastern city of Elazig killed more than 30 people in January.

‘Extremely tense’

According to the government’s disaster agency, 743 of the injured were in Izmir and the rest in the nearby provinces of Aydin, Manisa and Balikesir.

The earthquake was felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul.

There were 470 aftershocks after the earthquake, including 35 that exceeded four in magnitude, AFAD reported.

Nermin Yeni, 56, was cooking at home when the disaster struck. “I got out quickly, I collapsed,” Yeni said outside a tent in a park because she couldn’t go home.

A close family burned what they could in a metal can to keep warm. Some were not so lucky and slept alone in a sleeping bag outside or huddled in their cars.

Describing the moment the earthquake struck, Huseyin Sarac said that he and his family were “extremely tense, everyone was crying.”

When he spoke to AFP, he was looking for another tent for the family and the first one was already filled with his mother, father, uncle and sisters.

/ MUF

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