Earthquake in Turkey and Greece: Death Toll Rises

The powerful earthquake that hit the Aegean Sea on Friday has killed 62 people in Turkey and two people in Samos, Greece, Officials have said.

Rescue workers continue to search for survivors under the wreckage of eight buildings in the city of Izmir, in western Turkey.

More than 900 aftershocks have been registered in since the initial quake, 42 of them with a magnitude over 4.0, according to the agency.

The earthquake also triggered what authorities called a “mini tsunami,” causing streets to flood Friday in parts of Turkey’s wider Izmir province, as well as on Samos.

Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Sunday there was “no clear number on how many people are still under rubble. Hard to give a number. There is an estimation, but I cannot share.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that 103 people had been rescued from the debris so far.

Rescue workers have found many alive docked behind rubbles including 70-year-old, Ahmet Citim, rescued from a collapsed building in Turkey.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the tremor’s magnitude at 7.0, while Turkish authorities said it was 6.6.

The quake struck 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) northeast of the town of Néon Karlovásion on Samos, the USGS reported. It hit at a relatively shallow depth of 21 kilometers (13 miles), the USGS reported, making its impact powerfully felt at ground level around the epicenter.

Buhari commiserates with Turkey, Greece over earthquake

Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Erdogan; and the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, over the cases of earthquake in their respective countries.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement titled “President Buhari condoles with Turkey, Greece over earthquake.”

Shehu quoted the President as commiserating with families in City of Izmir, Turkey and Greek islands of Samos, Greece, who lost loved ones.

He was also said to have sympathised with the government and people of the two countries as they make efforts to save lives, while recovering from the shock of the earthquake.

“The government and people of Nigeria stand in solidarity with Turkey and Greece in this trying period as they deal with the unmitigated fallouts of a natural disaster,” Shehu quoted Buhari as saying.