Hopes fade in search for Turkey quake survivors

Rescue efforts continued on Sunday in the western Turkish city of Izmir, but hopes were fading to find survivors more than two days after a powerful earthquake.

The magnitude-6.6 quake struck at a depth of 16.5 kilometers (10.2 miles) and centered in the Aegean Sea, northeast of the Greek island of Samos. Two teenagers on the island were killed, while 19 others were injured.

The earthquake also left at least 69 people dead in Turkey. Some 804 people were injured, while around 200 were still getting treatment, according to Turkey's disaster agency AFAD.

The jolt was felt across western Turkey, including in Istanbul, and in the Greek capital of Athens. It was followed by hundreds of aftershocks. Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city after Istanbul and Ankara with 4.3 million people, was the most affected city.

Man pulled alive from debris after 34 hours

Countless were made homeless by the quake, many of them sleeping outside. Turkey's emergency authority provided some 1,500 tents and said 2,000 more were on the way. Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer said authorities were hoping to procure blankets and heaters, ahead of an expected drop in temperature.

Rescuers carried on the search for survivors at eight buildings in the city, urging bystanders to keep quiet so they could hear voices of people who were trapped. But on Sunday, search-and-rescue teams appeared to be finding more bodies than survivors.

Nevertheless, they managed to pull a 70-year-old man alive from a collapsed building. He was found in the rubble overnight Saturday and was recovering at a hospital. ''I never lost hope,'' the survivor said, according to Turkey's health minister.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said 26 badly damaged buildings in Izmir would be demolished. ''It's not the earthquake that kills but buildings,'' he added.

Turkey has a mix of older buildings and cheap or illegal construction, which can lead to serious damage and deaths when earthquakes hit.

In recent years, authorities have moved to tighten regulations and strengthen or demolish buildings in Turkish cities in light of the threat of tremors. Turkey is intersected by fault lines and is prone to major earthquakes.

jcg/nm (AP, dpa)