ALSO: Quake triggers international outpouring of aid VIDEO The night after the quake, the search for survivors continued, while people were afraid to go back into their homes. CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports. (August 18) Windows Media 28K 80K Izmit, Turkey was the hardest hit. CNN's Ben Wedeman is there. (August 18) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Marina Kamimura reports on the lessons learned in Japan following the Kobe earthquake in 1995. (August 18) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Andrea Koppel reports on the aid the U.S. is providing to Turkey (August 18) Windows Media 28K 80K INTERACTIVE: Chronology of major earthquakes over the last 20 years  GALLERIES: The story of a rescue Scenes of hope... and destruction  MESSAGE BOARD: Turkey Quake RELATED AUDIO Click here to listen to reactions on the earthquake in Turkey

August 18, 1999
Web posted at: 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT)

In this story: One of the most powerful quakes this century The rest of the world sends help Tours of historical sites not affected RELATED STORIES, SITES

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Amid the devastation that has left around 3,500 people dead after one of the most powerful earthquakes of the century, rescuers found a moment of gratification.

In a scene that mirrored the hope and tragedy at hundreds of locations throughout western Turkey on Wednesday, rescue workers in Istanbul freed a teen-age boy from the rubble where he'd been trapped for more than 31 hours.

The boy was in pain, his legs were injured, but doctors said he would survive, CNN's Jerrold Kessel reported.

A short time later, rescuers freed the boy's sister. However, at least one member of the family was killed.

Disaster relief teams from around the world joined overwhelmed Turkish crews Wednesday in searching for bodies and aiding survivors after the quake.

Layer by layer, from thousands of sites around western Turkey, the ruins of homes and apartment buildings gave up their dead -- many in their pajamas and nightgowns. Some bodies were shrouded in the blankets and sheets of their own beds.

The quake struck just before dawn on Tuesday, and lasted 45 seconds. Hundreds of aftershocks were reported.

CNN's Ken Tiven reported that the Turkish military had taken over rescue efforts in many areas, bringing in helicopters and heavy equipment to move heavy beams from collapsed buildings.

Tiven said dozens of buildings in Istanbul had collapsed. He said a military barracks with as many as 200 troops inside had collapsed, trapping the occupants.

International rescue teams rushing to the toppled buildings and homes may face frustrating logistical problems of reaching remote villages and Istanbul shantytowns. In some areas, communications facilities were not operating, electricity was out, and some roads were impassable.

As many as 10,000 people could still be trapped in rubble around the town of Golcuk, (pronounced GUL-jik) 80 miles southeast of Istanbul, according to the town's mayor, Ismail Baris. Thousands more were missing in Istanbul and elsewhere.

State TV reported 500 dead in Sakarya, a city 90 miles east of Istanbul. On Wednesday, officials said about 3,500 people had been killed, and more than 16,000 had been injured. Officials predicted the casualty count would climb.

"This is one of the worst disasters our nation has faced," Volkan Vural, the Turkish ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN.

Geophysicists at the U.S. National Earthquake Information Center described the quake as one of the most powerful recorded in the 20th century, nearly rivaling the 7.9- magnitude temblor that devastated San Francisco in 1906. It was felt as far east as Ankara, 200 miles away, and across parts of the Balkans.

Rescuers pull a young man from the rubble Wednesday after trying for hours to reach him. His sister remained trapped in the debris as workers then turned their attention toward reaching her

U.S. scientists initially reported the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8, but acknowledged later Tuesday that its intensity might be downgraded to as low as 7.4 as additional measurements were taken into account.

On Wednesday, the head of Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory, Ahmet Mete Isikara, set the magnitude at 7.4.

Tens of thousands of people fled outdoors after Tuesday's quake, and have refused to return home amid more than 250 aftershocks. Highway medians, parks and empty lots were turned into makeshift tent cities.

"We are terrified of returning home. We will have nightmares for a long time," said Leyla Osbeli, hanging blankets from trees to shade her three young children.

Authorities evacuated eight villages near the town of Altinova, 175 miles southwest of Istanbul, because of a leak at a damaged natural gas station there, said Nihat Ozgol, the governor of the nearby town of Yalova. It was not clear how many people were evacuated.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit toured some of the worst hit areas before chairing an emergency Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

A girl is carried to an awaiting ambulance after rescuers pulled her from the debris on Wednesday. Her brother was pulled out alive less than two hours earlier

Although the quake left few marks on central Istanbul -- the museums, majestic mosques and Ottoman sites familiar to tourists -- the edges of the 12 million-strong metropolis revealed the potential hazards of hastily built communities. Many apartment blocks and shantytowns crumbled in the quake. According to a number of reports, questions had been raised about the soundness of the buildings' construction.

To the southeast of Istanbul, the devastation was near total in some places.

In Izmit, medical workers smashed pharmacy windows to get supplies for hospitals swamped by the injured. More than 100 sailors were dead or missing in the ruins of barracks in Golcuk.

Local authorities appeared overwhelmed by the task of clearing debris. Frustrated residents tried to round up civilian crews as hopes of finding survivors faded.

"My loves, my children are there, my 15-year-old son and my daughter. But no one is fighting to save them," Gulser Onat cried in Golcuk.

Ozgol, the governor of Yalova, said: "There are hundreds of buildings collapsed. We need everything -- field hospitals, kitchens, tents and ambulances."

Search and rescue teams and tons of equipment were dispatched by the U.S. and European nations, including a Swiss squad that has assisted after three other earthquakes in Turkey since 1983. Most of the units include dogs trained to sniff out people trapped in the rubble.

Even Greece, a regional rival, sent a military plane with emergency supplies. Israel, a close Mideast ally, also assigned special military rescue teams.

"We can only imagine how difficult this is for them, and we will do what we can to help," President Clinton said in Washington.

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who was in Istanbul for talks on oil and gas pipeline projects, said he felt "45 seconds of very violent shaking" at 3 a.m.

"It's going to take Turkey a long time to recover," Richardson said, calling the quake "devastating."

With water lines and power cut to wide areas, health officials worried Tuesday about diseases and possible epidemics.

However, there was no visible damage to historical sites in Istanbul such as the Blue Mosque, the nearly 1,500-year-old Saint Sophia or Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman sultans. Tens of thousands of tourists visit those sites each summer.

"We stayed in bed while everybody else got out. Then there were aftershocks, and they asked us to evacuate the hotel," said Fiona Spearman, a British tourist from Oxford, as she sipped tea at an outdoor cafe across from the Blue Mosque.

The quake appeared to have no immediate impact on tourism. Burak Guzeloglu, a travel company owner based in Ankara, said there were no cancellations from international tourists planning visits to Istanbul.

"The sites have been there for hundreds of years and survived so many earthquakes," he said. "Those areas were not affected, and so there wasn't that much panic."

Much of Turkey sits on an earthquake-prone belt known as the Anatolia fault.

The worst earthquake in Turkish history killed an estimated 33,000 people in the eastern province of Erzincan in 1939.

A 6.3-magnitude quake hit Turkey on June 27, 1998, killing 144 people and injuring over 1,500 around the southern city of Adana.

CNN Correspondents Jerrold Kessel and Ken Tiven, The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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