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Turkey-Greece quake: Search for survivors under rubble

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Rescue teams in the Turkish port city of Izmir are hunting through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors of Friday’s powerful earthquake.

The death toll from the quake, which also struck the Greek island of Samos, has risen to 28, with over 800 injured.

A mother and three children were freed in Izmir 18 hours after the quake, as hundreds of aftershocks hit the area.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake was 7.0 magnitude, but Turkey put it lower at 6.6.

The shallow tremor triggered tidal waves that hit coastal areas and islands in both Turkey and Greece.

Twenty-six people were killed in Izmir, in the west of Turkey, officials said. A girl and a boy died in Samos when a wall collapsed on them.

What’s the latest?

Work continued through the night to search for survivors in 20 buildings in Izmir that were destroyed as a result of the earthquake.

Officials said search and rescue operations had been completed in eight buildings, while operations continued in nine other locations.

A mother and three children who had been trapped for almost 18 hours under a building were brought out by rescuers.

Efforts were continuing to rescue the woman’s fourth child.

“We are delighted to be hearing miracles happening as a result of diligent work by rescue teams,” Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer told local TV.

Some 100 survivors have been pulled out alive from the rubble so far, Turkey’s Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum told reporters.

Mr Soyer said about another 180 remained trapped.

Authorities in central Izmir have set up a tent area to house about 2,000 people overnight, amid fears that more buildings could collapse.

Nearly 4,000 rescue workers, 475 vehicles and 20 sniffer dogs have been deployed, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reports.

But their work has been hampered by nearly 400 aftershocks, according to Turkey’s national disaster agency Afad, with 33 of these more powerful than 4.0 magnitude.

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