Death toll in İzmir earthquake rises to 91, three-year-old rescued after 65 hours

The three-year-old was the 106th person to be rescued from debris. (Photo: AA)

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The death toll in Turkey from Friday's (October 30) powerful earthquake jolting the Aegean region has risen to 83, Minister of Environment and Urbanization Murat Kurum has announced.

The magnitude of the earthquake was announced as 6.6 by the AFAD and 6.9 by Boğaziçi University's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute.

Speaking at a news conference in the western İzmir province, Kurum updated the number of heavily damaged and destroyed buildings to 58.

With cold weather conditions affecting quake victims, Kurum called on citizens to seek shelter at local guest houses.

"We began the process of setting up a container city. We will establish a container city with a capacity to host 1,000 people in an area of 46,300 square meters (498,000 square feet) in Bayrakli district," he added.

İzmir is the third-largest city of Turkey with some 4.37 million population.

Similarly to Kurum, Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zumrut Selçuk also urged the citizens to take shelter at public guest houses in İzmir.

"We have a capacity of over 7,000 in public guest houses. This number can be further increased according to need," Selçuk added.

She further said that additional 5 million Turkish liras (some $595,000) will be transferred on Monday to Friday's 5 million Turkish liras social aid that was sent to the region by the Family, Labor and Social Services Ministry.

Some 1,120 aftershocks have hit the area since then, 43 of them above magnitude 4, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

It added that 962 people were injured, with 743 of them discharged from hospitals and 219 people still under treatment. So far, 1,864 tents have been installed, with 2,038 currently being set up.

Temporary accommodation has been established to meet the urgent need for shelter in the city, with over 3,500 tents, some 24,400 blankets, 13,300 beds, 5,500 sleeping sets, 2,600 kitchen sets, and four showers and toilet containers shipped to the area, AFAD noted.

So far, 106 people have been pulled from the debris as search and rescue activities continue.

The latest figures come after a three-year-old child was pulled from debris in the Bayrakli district on Monday nearly 65 hours after the quake.

Earlier, a 14-year-old was recovered from the rubble 58 hours after the tremor. Following the first aid, Idil Sirin was taken to a local hospital.

Turkey is among the world's most seismically active zones as it is situated on several active fault lines. It has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past as well. (AS/VK)