Turkey earthquake: Death toll rises to 366
The death toll from an earthquake in eastern Turkey has risen to 366 people, officials said, as rescue teams raced to find survivors beneath the rubble.
At least 1,300 others were injured in Sunday's disaster, officials said.
Crews pulled out a two-week-old baby, as well as a pregnant woman and her two children, alive on Tuesday, reviving hope for those missing loved ones.
Meanwhile, thousands of homeless people in the cities of Van and Ercis slept in tents or outside for a second night.
Turkish officials pledged more aid to those in need, saying 12,000 more tents would be delivered to the region.
Continue reading the main story At the scene
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/10/3296.jpg Tim Willcox BBC News, Ercis
We've been watching rescue teams at the wreckage of one building for the last seven or eight hours. Unfortunately, no survivors have been found here. There have been bodies, including a family of four - a mum in her mid-30s and three daughters including a baby aged about one year.
A mound of masonry and rubble, radiators, sofas and beddings is believed to contain a further 40 or 50 people who remain unaccounted for.
Hopes of finding any more people alive are running out. That said though, overnight, other people have been found alive in other areas of the town.
People here are angry about the fact that some buildings in the town have been affected very badly by the quake while others don't appear to have been affected at all.
Survivors and opposition politicians have criticised the government for failing to provide enough supplies.
'Digging with shovels' Rescue teams with sniffer dogs continued through the night and into Tuesday to search for survivors under the rubble.
Cranes and other heavy equipment have been lifting slabs of concrete, and many residents have been joining in the rescue effort, digging with shovels.
More than 2,000 houses collapsed as a result of the 7.2-magnitude quake, the Disaster and Emergency Administration has said.
In Ercis, one of the worst-hit cities, Derya Coskun, her daughter Elif and son Ozer were removed from the debris after being found by emergency workers.
Also on Tuesday, teams found a 14-day baby still alive, more than 48 hours after the quake.
Meanwhile, TV footage showed a couple, a police officer and his wife, being pulled out of a public building early on Tuesday, AFP reports.
But hopes are fading for many more who remain unaccounted for.
In one building, our correspondent says, there are fears that up to 50 are missing - buried under the rubble.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/10/3298.jpg Several survivors have been found on Tuesday, including a two-week-old baby (pictured)
Turkish officials are now warning that the death toll is expected to rise further.
'Shivering' Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, in charge of the relief operation, said late on Monday that "from today there will be nothing our people lack".
His announcement came after some survivors complained that not enough help was reaching them.
"We spent the night under freezing temperature. We shivered all night long, nobody provided us any blankets or heaters, we don't even have a toilet," one woman, who is staying in a tent, told the BBC.
"People are getting sick. It is very dirty here."
Another resident of Van said that even tents were in short supply.
"All the nylon tents are on the black market now," Ibrahim Baydar, a 40-year-old tradesman from Van, told Reuters news agency.
"We cannot find any. People are queuing for them. No tents were given to us whatsoever," he said.
Continue reading the main story https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/10/3300.jpg
In Ercis, a city of 75,000, a lorry loaded with tents and supplies was mobbed by young men who climbed the sides to claim tents and blankets, leaving the older and less able shouting in anger.
Opposition politicians earlier decried what they called "a lack of crisis management", saying that many people still lacked food, heating and tents.
They also said Ankara was wrong to refuse offers of foreign aid.
Both Ercis and the larger city of Van lie on a high plateau surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
Continue reading the main story Earthquake area
- One of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones
- Kurdish-populated
- Ercis, an eastern city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border, was the worst-hit
- Van, large ancient city of one million on a lake ringed by mountains, less affected
The earthquake struck at 13:41 (10:41 GMT) on Sunday at a depth of 20km (12 miles), with its epicentre 16km north-east of Van in eastern Turkey, the US Geological Survey said.
About 200 aftershocks have hit the region, it added, including one of magnitude 6.0 late on Sunday.
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.
Two earthquakes in 1999 with a magnitude of more than 7 killed almost 20,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of the country.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15440505
