Aegean quake toll rises to 115 as search continues in Turkey's Izmir
Reuters
November 4, 2020 17:52 MYT
November 4, 2020 17:52 MYT
Rescuers carry 4-year-old Ayda Gezgin out from a collapsed building as operations take place on site after an earthquake struck the Aegean Sea, in the coastal province of Izmir, Turkey. REUTERSpic
ISTANBUL: Search and rescue efforts were concentrated on two buildings in Turkey's western city of Izmir as the death toll from Friday's earthquake in the Aegean Sea crept up to 115, disaster authorities said early on Wednesday.
Two of victims of the tremor were teenagers on the Greek island of Samos, authorities said.
On Tuesday, 90 hours after the quake struck, rescuers in Izmir pulled a young girl alive out of the rubble, and search operations were now concentrated on two buildings.
It was the deadliest quake to hit Turkey in nearly a decade.
The quake injured 1,035 people in Izmir, with 137 still being treated, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.
More than 4,600 tents and 17,000 beds are being used for temporary shelters in Turkey, the agency said.
Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. More than 500 people were killed in a 2011 quake in the eastern city of Van, while another in January this year killed 41 people in the eastern province of Elazig.
In 1999, two powerful quakes killed 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. AFAD said Friday's earthquake had a magnitude of 6.6, with 1,670 aftershocks.