Turkey, Greece reel from strong quake

IZMIR/ISTANBUL－Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday raised to 58 the death toll in Izmir, the country's third-largest city, in an earthquake, as rescuers pulled more bodies from toppled buildings. Two teenagers were also killed on the Greek island of Samos and at least 19 others were injured.

The earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea between the Turkish coast and the Greek island of Samos on Friday, and in addition to the deaths injured more than 900 people amid collapsed buildings and flooding, officials said.

The earthquake was centered in the Aegean northeast of Samos, and the United States Geological Survey rated it at 7.0, while Istanbul's Kandilli Institute put it at 6.9 and Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said it measured 6.6.

The quake triggered a small tsunami in the Seferihisar district of Izmir, drowning one elderly woman, as well as on Samos. The tremors were felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, as well as in the Greek capital, Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks followed.

Search-and-rescue efforts were underway to reach more survivors trapped in the ruins.

AFAD said nearly 6,400 personnel had been activated for rescue work and hundreds of others for food distribution, emergency help and building damage control.

Rescue efforts

It was unclear how many more people remained under the rubble. Turkish media reported three more people were pulled out Sunday from one collapsed apartment building but their conditions were unknown.

Dogs, cats and rabbits have also been rescued from the debris.

France offered assistance to both countries. The secretary of state for European affairs tweeted France's "full solidarity with Greece and Turkey" and said "we are ready to offer the necessary aid".

Greek and Turkish government officials issued mutual messages of solidarity.

"We pray that there is no further loss of life in Turkey or Greece and we send our best wishes to all those affected on both sides of the earthquake," Turkey's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun tweeted. "This tragedy reminds us once again how close we are despite our differences over policy. We're ready to help if Greece needs it."

Turkey is crossed by fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 1999 two powerful quakes killed about 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Earthquakes are frequent in Greece as well.

Agencies - Xinhua