Death toll from İzmir quake rises to 115

İZMİR

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Nov. 8 that the death toll from the Oct. 30 quake had risen to 115.

Some 1,011 people who suffered injuries have also been discharged from hospitals, according to AFAD.

A total of 2,846 aftershocks – 46 of them with a magnitude higher than 4 – have been recorded since the magnitude 6.6 quake rattled Izmir, which is home to more than 4.3 million people, the agency said.

Meanwhile, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum told a news conference early on Nov. 8 as many as 23 patients injured in the İzmir quake.

"Twenty-four of the victims are being treated in hospitals, while all others have been discharged," Kurum said.

He said 342 buildings in the city have been destroyed or heavily damaged, 3,660 are slightly damaged, and 383 are moderately damaged.

Nearly 14 million Turkish liras ($1.6 million) in financial aid has been provided so far, he added.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking in the northwestern Kocaeli province, also gave an update, saying that among those receiving treatment, three are in critical condition.

Erdoğan has pledged to rebuild the damaged structures as soon as possible.

As a temporary solution, thousands of tents have been set up, and a "container city" of temporary housing units is also being built.

Turkey is among the world's most seismically active zones, and has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past, including the magnitude 7.6 Marmara quake in 1999.

6,000 quake victims staying in tent city

Mehmet Güllüoğlu, the chairperson of Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), has announced that the death toll from the Oct. 30 earthquake that jolted Izmir has risen to 115 and some 6,000 quake victims are staying in the tent city set up at Bornova Stadium in the western province of İzmir.

“There are around 6,000 people living in the tent city. Half of them are there because of fear, not a damaged house,” said Güllüoğlu to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

“I think as time pass and officials say that their houses are safe, most of them will start leaving the tent city,” added the chairperson.

Around 1,000 officials from the Environment and Urbanization Ministry are inspecting the houses in the quake zone and the work will be finished in a week, according to Güllüoğlu.

The chairman also underlined that they have made a plan to build 1,000 container-houses. “As a precaution we planned it. But I think it won’t be necessary as the people do not want to live in container houses,” Güllüoğlu said.

“After the earthquake in the eastern province of Elazığ, victims stayed in container houses as there were not enough houses in the province to rent. İzmir is different. Life in 95 percent of the city is normal, and there are a lot of houses for rent. İzmir quake victims say, ‘Give us rent aid.’ So, I think we will deal with rent aid in İzmir.”