“Search and rescue operations have been completed in many of our provinces. They are continuing in Kahramanmaras and Hatay provinces,” Yunus Sezer, head of the agency, told reporters in Ankara.
The epicenter of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 was located in the Pazarchik district of the city of Kahramanmarash. Sezer said search and rescue efforts continued in about 40 buildings in the provinces on the 14th day after the quake, but that number is expected to drop by Sunday night. The agency head also said the death toll in Turkey had risen to 40,689. The total number of victims of the tragedy, including Syria, is 44,377 people.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Saturday that some 105,000 buildings in the country had collapsed or been badly damaged by the quake and needed to be demolished. After the quake, rescue teams found people alive under the rubble, but no survivors have been found in the past 24 hours, The Guardian reports.
