Quake toll rises to 116 in Turkey; rescuers finish searches
Posted November 04, 2020 6:00 am
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The death toll in last week's Aegean Sea earthquake rose to 116 on Wednesday as rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir finished searching buildings that collapsed in the quake.
All but two of the victims were killed in Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city. Two teenagers died on the Greek island of Samos, which lies south of the epicenter of Friday's earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake's magnitude at 7.0, although other agencies recorded it as less severe.
Mehmet Gulluoglu, head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, said search and rescue operations had been completed at 17 buildings that fell in Izmir. The rescue operation has been roaring at full tilt since Friday, pulling 107 survivors from the rubble.
Of the 1,035 people injured in the quake, 137 remained hospitalized on Wednesday, the agency added.
Following a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged not to give up until the final person was recovered. Rescuers' spirits were raised Tuesday when they pulled a 3-year-old girl from the wreckage of her family home 91 hours after the quake.
The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens. Some 1,700 aftershocks followed, 45 of which were greater than 4.0 magnitude.
In Izmir, the quake reduced buildings to rubble or saw floors pancake in on themselves. Authorities have detained nine people, including contractors, for questioning over the collapse of six of the buildings.
Turkey has a mix of older buildings and new buildings make of cheap or illegal construction that do not withstand earthquakes well. Regulations have been tightened to strengthen or demolish older buildings, and urban renewal is underway in Turkish cities, but experts say it is not happening fast enough.
The country sits on top of two major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent.
A woman who remains homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake and now lives in one of the tents set up on a basketball court, pauses in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Mourners carry the coffin of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A worker walks past as others demolish a building that was damaged at the Oct. 30 earthquake in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A mourner cries over the coffin of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Tents set up at a soccer stadium for residents who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake are seen in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a 1000 were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A worker in a bulldozer demolishes a building that was damaged at the Oct. 30 earthquake in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Ugur Gezgin, center, cries during the funeral procession for his wife Fidad, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Mourners cry over the grave of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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People watch from a playground the debris of a collapsed building destroyed after the Oct. 30 earthquake, in the coastal city of Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Local residents who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake and now live in one of the tents set up on a basketball court, try to stay warm in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Children pass time by tents set up at a soccer stadium for residents who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a 1000 were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Children pass time by tents set up at a soccer stadium for residents who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a 1000 were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A child who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake and now lives in one of the tents set up on a basketball court, reads in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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An imam, wearing a protective mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, waits to hold the funeral procession of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Associated Press
Mourners carry the coffin of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Associated Press
Mourners, wearing protective masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, attend the funeral procession of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Associated Press
A mourner cries over the coffin of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Fidan was the mother of Ayda Gezgin who was pulled alive from the rubble of the same building by rescue services Tuesday, some four days (91 hours) after the strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Associated Press
Local residents who remain homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake and now live in tents set up on a basketball court, share breakfast together in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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In this photo provided by Turkey's IHH humanitarian aid group, Ayda Gezgin is carried by members of rescue services and medics after she was taken out of the rubble of her collapsed building, in Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Rescuers in the Turkish coastal city pulled Gezgin out alive from the rubble, some four days (91 hours) after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. The girl was taken into an ambulance, wrapped in a thermal blanket, amid the sounds of cheers and applause from rescue workers. (IHH via AP)
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In this photo provided by the government's Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, a rescue worker holds Ayda Gezgin by the hand in the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, after they discovered the young girl alive, four days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. The girl, Ayda Gezgin, was seen being taken into an ambulance on Tuesday, wrapped in a thermal blanket, amid the sound of cheers and applause from rescue workers. (AFAD via AP)
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In this drone image, collapsed buildings, destroyed in the Oct. 30 earthquake are seen in Izmir, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Rescuers in the Turkish coastal city pulled a young girl out alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building Tuesday, four days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo)
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A worker on a bulldozer demolishes a building that was damaged at the Oct. 30 earthquake in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a thousand people were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A local resident, who became homeless after the Oct. 30 earthquake and now lives in one of the tents set up on a basketball court, hugs her dog in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. Search and rescue operations for survivors had been completed Wednesday at several buildings that fell in the coastal city. More that a hundred people were killed and more that a 1000 were injured. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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