Rescue efforts in Turkey’s Izmir intensify two days after earthquake

Members of rescue services search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey

Credit: AP

The rescue mission in Turkish city of Izmir intensified on Sunday, two days after an earthquake  that killed at least 58 people across two countries and injured over 900.

Over 100 people have been rescued from the mounds of the rubble of the 20 buildings that were seriously damaged in Izmir by the earthquake.

On Sunday, the rescue workers were still active in eight of the apartments, but hopes were dwindling of finding survivors as the day dragged on and the death toll continued to rise.

Much of the rescue operation has focused on the Riza building, which over eight floors housed apartments and businesses.

Vice President, Fuat Oktay, said on Sunday that over 300 buildings had been damaged, but most only lightly.

Photos in local Turkish media on Sunday showed a rescue worker crying amid the rubble after pulling out the body of a dead two-year-old.

Glimmers of hope pierced the devastation over the weekend. A 70-year-old man was pulled out alive from the debris and taken to hospital 33 hours after the quake. A mother and her three children were rescued after 18 hours underneath the rubble of their home.

Nearly 6,000 rescue workers have been working day and night since Friday afternoon’s earthquake, which was centred in the Aegean sea. It has affected both Greece and Turkey.

Locals and officials search for survivers at a collapsed building in Izmir

Credit: Reuters

Two of the dead, a teenage boy and girl, were on their way home from school on the Greek Island of Samos and were killed when a wall collapsed on them. According to the United States Geological Survey the quake hit just under 9 miles away from the island.

There have been over 800 aftershocks since the quake hit, with more than 40 of them over 4.0 magnitude, according to the Turkish disaster agency.

In the Turkish town of Bayrakli, one of the worst-hit areas, families have spent the last two nights sleeping in tents with nowhere else to go. Thousands of tents have now been set up in Izmir as officials warned residents not to go back to their homes.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake was felt as far away as Istanbul and Athens.

The local Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet Daily, said two of the buildings where rescue efforts are concentrated were flagged in local district reports as in poor shape in 2012 and 2018, with "low quality concrete" used to build them.

The "damning" report on one building clearly assessed it was "at risk" based on earthquake safety requirements and advised that "necessary measures" be taken to increase safety, the newspaper said.