Rescue teams continue to find survivors as quake relief enters 10th day in Türkiye

A joint rescue group encompassing members of China Search and Rescue Team and a search and rescue team from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) carry out rescue operation among earthquake debris in Antakya, southern province of Hatay, Türkiye, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Shadati)

ANKARA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- As the chance of finding survivors from last week's devastating earthquakes in southern Türkiye diminishes with each passing day, a few hopeful news of the rescue teams pulling victims alive out of the ruins are making the headlines on Wednesday.

Cemile Kekec, a 74-year-old woman, was rescued on Wednesday after spending more than nine days trapped under the wreckage in the southern province of Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the 7.7- and 7.6- twin earthquakes, according to the Demiroren News Agency.

Images showed the rescuers happily hugging each other when the old woman was carried by a crane to the ambulance. She was taken under treatment for kidney problems, a common health issue of long-trapped quake survivors.

A woman and her dog search on earthquake debris in Antakya in the southern province of Hatay, Türkiye, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Another lucky survivor, who was identified as 42-year-old Melike Imamoglu, was rescued 222 hours after the disaster. When the woman was being carried to the hospital, she was shouting out her daughter's name, but rescuers only discovered the remains of her children and husband under the wreckage.

Rescue teams from Türkiye and dozens of countries, including China, are still working around the clock to search for signs of life under the rubble.

More than 8,000 people have been pulled out alive from the rubble, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, adding another 81,000 injured have been discharged from the hospital.

While the rescue operations continue to the 10th day, priority has been shifted to survivors' relief as tens of thousands are struggling to meet their basic needs such as accommodation in freezing temperatures.

Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has set up tent and container camps for thousands of families, but still many have difficulty taking shelter.

An ambulance is seen near earthquake debris in Antakya in the southern province of Hatay, Türkiye, Feb. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Shadati)

The massive quakes have impacted 10 provinces in Türkiye, which are home to nearly 13 million people. It has also affected transportation, energy, and access to food and drinking water in the region and has caused damage to the sanitation infrastructure.

Turkish Medical Association warned that the quake-hit region has entered the most dangerous phase in terms of infectious diseases, underlining that the measures taken so far were insufficient.

The association stressed that people in the disaster zone are having difficulty accessing toilets and bathrooms, which increases the risk of diseases.

Last week's catastrophic earthquakes left at least 35,418 people dead in Türkiye, making it the deadliest such disaster in the country in the past century since a quake in the eastern province of Erzincan killed 33,000 people in 1939. The death toll is expected to rise further.

AFAD official Orhan Tatar said on Wednesday that there was a fault displacement of up to 7.3 meters after the earthquake and a 400-km surface rift was formed, while the depths of the tremors varied between 8 meters and 10 meters.

"These were the biggest earthquakes we've experienced in the last 2,000 years. The earth's crust shook very severely for two minutes. There have been a total of 3,858 aftershocks so far. There have been 38 aftershocks of magnitude 5 to 6," he said at a press conference.

People rest by their temporary shelter in Antakya in the southern province of Hatay, Türkiye, Feb. 14, 2023. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum tweeted that they determined that 50,576 buildings needed urgent demolition because they were heavily damaged.

Turkish authorities launched investigations against the contractors whose buildings collapsed in the earthquake zone. Legal authorities, accompanied by experts, take iron and concrete samples from the wreckage.

The semi-official Anadolu Agency reported that the number of arrested increased to 24 on Wednesday.

The decision of suspending schools until March 1 across the 10 provinces is likely to be extended as education cannot continue until the damage assessment studies are completed at school buildings, Turkish Education Minister Mahmut Ozer said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Türkiye's stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, reopened on Wednesday with the index soaring almost 10 percent after a five-day earthquake-related closure.