A devastating earthquake just rocked Turkey. The 7.0 quake toppled buildings in the coastal city of Izmir and triggered a tsunami. Cell phone footage caught the shocking aftermath.
Earthquake crumbles buildings
The city of Izmir sits on the Aegean coast of Turkey. The city was known as Smyrna in ancient times. It was originally founded by the Greeks, taken over by the Romans and then rebuilt by Alexander the Great before becoming part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The earthquake’s epicenter was in the Aegean sea just off the coast of the historic city.
The quake rattled cities in Greece and was felt as far as Istanbul, which is 200 miles away. Izmir got it the worst. The city is Turkey’s third largest and home to 4 million people. “It was the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced,” one Izmir resident told reporters. “The lamps swung and the apartment door opened. At that moment I thought, am I going to die?”
Citizens of Izmir worked tirelessly around the clock to rescue survivors from the rubble of crumbled buildings. The death toll currently sits at 81 people, a number that is expected to grow. More than 1,000 people were injured in the quake. The Greek island of Samos sits just southwest of the epicenter. The earthquake resulted in the death of two teenagers and injured at least 19 people on the island.
Gosh – Earthquake in Turkey…impact recorded by gamer…. pic.twitter.com/8ELL4mjDrY
via @dokuz8news— Lightacandle Tweets (@lightacandleOTM) October 30, 2020
Drone footage shows rescuers intensifying the search for survivors at the site on an earthquake that struck the Aegean port city of Izmir in Turkey on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/R2UXjPtyEq
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 1, 2020
Amazing survival stories
At least 20 buildings were seriously damaged in Izmir. Multiple videos captured the chaotic scene as rescue workers frantically crawled through damaged buildings trying to find survivors. The Turkish government has provided more than 3,500 tents and 13,000 beds to house residents displaced by the destruction.
Despite the overwhelming death and destruction, rescue workers were able to save more than 100 residents from the rubble. On Monday morning, 65 hours after the quake, rescuers pulled 3-year-old Elif Perineck from the debris of a fallen building. Rescue workers were later heard clapping and cheering as they freed a 14-year-old girl from the rubble.
Turkey sits on several fault lines, making it one of the most seismically active locations on the planet. In 1999, two powerful earthquakes killed more than 18,000 people in northwest Turkey. The latest earthquake triggered a small tsunami which complicated rescue missions. It hit the Greek island of Samos before rushing into Izmir. One woman was reportedly drown in the surge.
This shocking footage was taken after an earthquake struck off Turkey's Aegean coast
It shows the Greek island of Samos beginning to floodhttps://t.co/64i5Zequxy pic.twitter.com/0TtV4wOUuA
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 31, 2020
Another tsunami footage from the earthquake in Izmir province of Turkey.
This one is really dangerous pic.twitter.com/62zfddWSi8
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) October 30, 2020