On the 13th (local time), the 8th day after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, survivors who survived more than 180 hours beyond experts’ expectations are miraculously rescued. As the chances of survival become slimmer, more and more areas are ending rescue operations, but this is why we cannot easily give up hope.
On the 13th (local time), according to Turkiye state media Anatolu News Agency, a 10-year-old girl, Aika Seplin, was rescued from an apartment complex in Kahramanmaras 185 hours after the earthquake. Kahramanmaras, the secondary epicenter of this earthquake, is considered one of the areas most affected by the earthquake.
In southern Hatay, a 67-year-old man was safely rescued from an apartment complex 185 hours after the quake struck. Ugur Ibrahim, mayor of Altai Turkiye Konia, welcomed his return and posted a video of the rescue on social media.
The news of miraculous survival continues. Reuters reported that a 13-year-old boy was rescued from under a pile of collapsed buildings in Hatay after 182 hours. A rescue team from Turkey and Oman also succeeded in rescuing a woman who had been buried for 176 hours in Antakya this morning.
In Kahramanmaras, news came that a woman, her little daughter and a baby were found alive in the rubble of a building after 173 hours. In Gaziantep, the primary epicenter of the earthquake, a 40-year-old woman was rescued from a collapsed apartment after 170 hours. Hours before the woman was rescued, in Adiyaman, a woman in her 60s came out of the wreckage alive.
The Korean emergency relief team dispatched to Turkey has rescued a total of eight survivors and recovered 18 bodies so far.
The news of the rescue delivered on this day is unusual in light of the generally known survival time. Previously, experts pointed out 72 hours after the earthquake as the ‘golden time’ for rescue, and evaluated about 7 days (168 hours) as a possible survival period. The survivors currently being found in Turkiye can be seen as a miraculous case.
The procession of people leaving the earthquake-stricken area continues. Vice-President Puat Okthai Türkiye said 108,000 buildings had been destroyed and 400,000 people had fled the affected areas.
