November 13, 1999
Web posted at: 5:47 a.m. EST (1047 GMT)

In this story: Doctors work in hospital garden Survivors in darkness Rescue effort Buildings burn after quake Empty stretchers at the door Clinton due in Turkey RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

DUZCE, Turkey (CNN) -- A huge national and international relief effort was under way Saturday after another powerful earthquake struck western Turkey, killing more than 260 people and injuring hundreds more.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told the Anatolia news agency Saturday that more than 1,282 were injured as well. Other officials said at least 102 buildings were destroyed.

The magnitude-7.2 quake struck just after nightfall Friday and was centered on the town of Duzce, 115 miles (185 km) east of Istanbul, said Ahmet Mete Isikara, head of Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory. It struck less than three months after an August 17 quake with a magnitude of 7.4 killed more than 17,000 people in Turkey's industrial heartland.

The quake plunged Duzce into darkness, and survivors huddled by bonfires in freezing temperatures overnight. Doctors treated the injured in a garden, fearing their quake-cracked hospital would collapse.

GALLERY Chronology of major earthquakes since 1980     AUDIO Serdar Akinan, executive producer at CNN Turk, reports that authorities in Duzce were not prepared for the latest earthquake 332K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound   MAGNITUDE GUIDE Below is an interactive guide to earthquake magnitude and severity: Magnitude: Less than 3.5 3.5 - 5.4 Under 6.0 6.1 - 6.9 7.0 - 7.9 8 or greater   MESSAGE BOARD Mediterranean quakes

Makarena Agular of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent told CNN Saturday that officials at the makeshift rescue center in Duzce were quoting numbers of at least 80 dead in that city alone. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers dug through the rubble.

Agular, who visited another, unnamed, town, 18 kilometers away after the quake struck, said the damage from Friday's 30-second tremor seemed more concentrated than the one in August.

The hilly, forested region around Duzce lies on the main highway between Turkey's political capital, Ankara, and its main commercial city, Istanbul. Duzce was on the eastern fringe of the region hit by the August quake.

Doctors work in hospital garden

In Duzce, 500 people were rushed to the local hospital, where doctors worked in the garden after the building was evacuated due to quake damage. Sadettin Cakmakoglu, a doctor, said the hospital urgently needed painkillers and medicine.

"I am calling out SOS for Duzce," the Anatolia quoted him as saying.

In the hospital garden, Nazmiye Belkis lay on the ground on a hospital mattress. She broke her right leg as she jumped from her second floor window as her apartment began to shake.

A few yards behind her mattress were 10 bodies covered with white shrouds or blankets.

"Look at them," she said, nodding her head toward the bodies. "I am lucky."

At one crumpled five-story apartment block, thick smoke was rising from a fire somewhere in the ruins. Residents said a large number of men and women could have been trapped in a single flat while holding a Muslim prayer ceremony for a dead relative.

"They had gathered on the third floor," local cleric Muhammed Ozturk said. "I don't know exactly how many, but it could be up to 60. They have heard noises from inside. On the other side of the building there is a dead child, but they have not got him out yet."

Survivors in darkness

Electricity in Duzce was cut off to prevent fires from the quake. Rescuers brought out floodlights to dig for survivors in the collapsed buildings.

Turkish television showed people tearing away at mounds of rubble as they frantically tried to uncover relatives buried beneath collapsed buildings. In the town of Bolu, women stood at the foot of a pile of rubble, weeping.

"We are face-to-face with a new disaster," Turkish President Suleyman Demirel said.

Added Health Ministry undersecretary Haluk Tokucoglu, "The casualty numbers are constantly increasing as more dead and injured are being brought to hospitals."

Rescue effort

Turkey's armed forces and government, criticized for a slow response to the August disaster, rushed aid to the region. Three military helicopters, 165 ambulances and dozens of medical personnel were sent.

The army sent six battalions and elite commandos from neighboring towns. The police sent 50 members of an anti-terrorist squad to help rescue efforts.

Rescue teams were expected from Greece, Algeria, Israel, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Denmark, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said.

Within hours of the quake, Greece said it would send 40 fire department disaster workers, doctors and quake damage experts Saturday on three military transport planes loaded with medical and other emergency supplies.

It was the latest offer of help between the two quake-prone neighbors that have set aside decades of hostility in the face of disaster. Each country has sent rescue teams to help the other after serious quakes struck the nations in recent months.

Richard Grove-Hills of the International Red Cross, speaking to CNN while he was still en route to Duzce, said that not only would the impact be felt in the immediate area, but would also be "psychologically devastating" to those just recovering some confidence from the August quake.

Grove-Hills said the victims near the epicenter of the earlier quake would have felt Friday's tremor strongly, as it occurred along the same fault line.

Buildings burn after quake

Collapsed buildings and overturned trucks lined the road into Duzce. Firefighters battled flames shooting out of several buildings.

Search teams worked under floodlights to rescue survivors as five major and as many as 20 minor aftershocks struck the area through the night.

Rescue workers at one site used a broken door as a stretcher to carry away an injured woman, and electrical wires to bind her broken leg.

At a local park, hundreds of people tried to keep warm amid the winter chill by huddling beside fires made of wood and old tires.

In nearby Bolu, the earthquake set off explosions in buildings, which triggered fires, said the town's police chief, Ugur Gur. He said the road to Istanbul was torn apart and called for urgent medical aid from the capital, Ankara, 160 miles to the east.

In Adapazari, which was virtually leveled by the August quake, terrified residents leapt from their shaking buildings, said Cahit Kirac, the town governor. He said there were reports of injuries, but had no details.

Parts of Adapazari, which is 40 miles (64 km) from Duzce, had been plunged into darkness Thursday when a 5.7-magnitude aftershock from the August quake knocked out phone and power lines. Two people were killed and 171 were injured. Most of the casualties were in Adapazari.

Empty stretchers at the door

Ambulances ferried victims of Friday's quake to a hospital in Ankara. A line of empty stretchers waited behind the sliding doors of the emergency service of Ankara Numune Hospital, where doctors and nurses examined the injured.

A crowd outside the hospital searched for names of their loved ones in lists posted on glass walls. Police cordoned off the emergency entrance to make work easier for hospital workers.

"I am here because there is nothing I can do at home," said Kahramankara Cidar. "I cannot reach there by phone. I thought the best thing was to come here and see if I know anyone."

The hospital was inundated with offers for blood donations, but, having a full supply, staff informed the potential donors there would be a blood-donation drive if needed.

Clinton due in Turkey

Buildings in Istanbul and Ankara shook as though they were made of rubber. In Istanbul, hundreds of people flooded onto the streets fearing aftershocks. As a chilly night settled, many gathered around camp fires.

The quake come as Turkey is preparing to host delegations from 54 countries for a November 18-19 summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

President Clinton is expected to arrive in Turkey on Sunday. His schedule includes a planned visit to Izmit, one of the areas hardest hit in the August quake, to survey the damage.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.