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A powerful earthquake shook the Aegean coast of Turkey and the north of the Greek island of Samos on Friday, killing at least 25 people.
Rescuers plowed concrete blocks and the rubble of eight collapsed buildings on Saturday in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck the Aegean coast of Turkey and the northern Greek island of Samos on Friday, killing at least 25 people.
More than 800 people were injured in the earthquake that toppled buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city, and triggered a small tsunami in the Seferihisar district and in Samos.
The earthquake was followed by more than 400 aftershocks, according to Turkey’s Presidency of Emergency and Disaster Management, or AFAD.
Early Saturday morning, onlookers cheered as rescuers pulled a teenager from the rubble of a devastated eight-story apartment building.
Friends and family waited outside the building for news of loved ones who were still trapped, including employees of a dentist’s office that was located on the ground floor.
Two other women were rescued from another collapsed two-story building.
A woman was rescued this morning from the rubble after yesterday’s earthquake in #izmir.
Search and rescue efforts continue with 4,419 search and rescue personnel, 20 K9 dogs, and 475 vehicles from AFAD, JAK, NGOs, and municipalities. pic.twitter.com/rtZx989VzV
– AFAD (@AFADTurkey) October 31, 2020
AFAD reported that at least 24 people died in Izmir, including an elderly woman who drowned.
Two teenagers died on Samos after being hit by a collapsing wall. At least 19 people were injured on the island, two of whom, including a 14-year-old boy, were flown to Athens and seven were hospitalized on the island, health authorities said.
The small tsunami that hit the Turkish coast also affected Samos, with seawater flooding the streets of the main port city of Vathi.
Authorities warned people to stay away from the shoreline and potentially damaged buildings.
The earthquake, which according to the Kandilli Institute had a magnitude of 6.9, occurred at 2.51 pm (11:51 GMT) in Turkey. Its epicenter was in the northeast Aegean Sea of Samos.
The powerful earthquake that struck Turkey and Greece washed away buildings and created a storm surge that flooded the streets near the Turkish resort city of Izmir. [Ozan Kose/AFP]
On Friday, Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer told CNN Turk broadcaster that some 20 buildings had collapsed. Turkey’s interior minister tweeted that six buildings in Izmir were destroyed. Izmir Governor Yavuz Selim Kosger said at least 70 people were rescued from the rubble.
The effect was felt in the eastern Greek islands and even Athens and Bulgaria.
In Turkey, it shook the Aegean and Marmara regions, including Istanbul.
The governor of Istanbul said there were no reports of damage in the city.
Authorities warned Izmir residents not to return to the damaged buildings, saying they could collapse in strong aftershocks.
On Samos, an island with a population of about 45,000, residents were urged to stay away from coastal areas.
In a rare show of solidarity after tense bilateral relations, Greek and Turkish government officials delivered mutual messages of solidarity as the presidents of Greece and Turkey held a telephone conversation.
Relations between Turkey and Greece have been strained as their warships clash in the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute over maritime borders and energy exploration rights.
The current tension has sparked fears of an open conflict between the two neighbors and NATO allies.
Traversed by extensive fault lines, Turkey is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.
More than 17,000 people died in August 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Izmit, a city southeast of Istanbul.
In 2011, an earthquake in the eastern city of Van killed more than 500 people.
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