They rescue a 70-year-old man in Turkey who was trapped in the rubble of the earthquake

IZMIR, Turkey (AP) - Turkish rescue teams lifted a 70-year-old man trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in the earthquake that struck the west of the country and neighboring Greece on Sunday.

At least 75 people have died and another 1,000 were injured,

news agency reports

.

The older adult was rescued overnight, 34 hours after the earthquake that had its epicenter in the Aegean Sea, and is now recovering in a hospital, reported the Turkish health minister.

The minister tweeted that

The operation that saved Citim was the latest in a series of outstanding rescues after the earthquake on Friday afternoon.

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But on the third day of the disaster,

, Turkey's third-largest city.

They continued searching eight demolished buildings, but work stopped when authorities determined a damaged structure was at risk of falling, forcing rescuers and people waiting outside to retreat.

The earthquake had its epicenter on the Greek island of Samos.

Turkey's Presidency of Emergency and Disaster Management (AFAD) raised the death toll in Izmir province on Sunday to 73. The agency said 961 people were injured in Turkey, with more than 220 still receiving treatment on Sunday.

A powerful earthquake causes deaths, damage and even a tsunami between Turkey and Greece

Oct. 31, 202000: 37

The quake also killed two teenagers on Samos and injured at least 19 other people

on the Greek island.

There was some debate about the magnitude of the earthquake.

The United States Geological Survey rated it as 7.0 on the Richter scale while the Kandilli Institute in Istanbul put it at 6.9 and the AFAD measured it at 6.6.

The earthquake triggered a small tsunami that affected Samos and the Seferihisar district in Izmir, drowning an elderly woman.

The tremors were felt throughout western Turkey, including in Istanbul, the capital, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens.

There were hundreds of aftershocks.

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Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said 26 badly damaged buildings in Izmir would have to be demolished.

"It is not the earthquake that kills, but the buildings," he

added, repeating a common slogan.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks with Ahmet Citim, who was rescued from a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey.

Buildings in Turkey are older on average and constructions use lower quality materials and often do not meet legal requirements, increasing the risk of serious damage and death when there is a strong earthquake.

Although the Turkish authorities have modified urban regulations in response to the earthquakes in recent years, the renovation has not happened quickly enough.

Two apartment buildings that the earthquake collapsed in Izmir

, where much of the rescues are taking place,

since 2012 and 2018, according to the municipal agency in charge of those certificates.

Turkish media, including the Hurriyet newspaper, reported that one of the apartments, which was built in 1993, was at risk of earthquake damage due to its poor-quality concrete and lack of reinforcement.

However, the building continued to be occupied.

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A 73-year-old survivor from one of those buildings said she was on the third-floor balcony when she started shaking.

He believes that at least 50 people lived in the building, which also has a cafeteria on the ground floor.

“In the first earthquake nothing happened.

During the second earthquake, the seventh, sixth and fourth floors fell on top of each other like a sandwich

, ”Suzan Dere said.

“The building melted into a cloud of dust on the street with a very loud crash.

It all happened in a minute. "

Building collapsed by the earthquake that shook the Turkish city of Izmir on Friday.

Getty Images

Turkey's justice minister said prosecutors began investigating several collapsed buildings and said there would be legal repercussions if experts determine that there was negligence.

AFAD said nearly 6,400 people had been activated for rescue work and hundreds more for food distribution, emergency aid and building damage control.

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Several seismic faults run through Turkey and make it prone to earthquakes.

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Greece is also a country prone to these phenomena.

The tragedy has caused the governments of the two Mediterranean nations, whose diplomatic relations have been strained by disputes over energy resources, to issue mutual messages of solidarity for the many victims.

Pope Francis asked the faithful on Sunday to pray for the people of the Aegean Sea

.

The earthquake in Turkey comes amid an economic recession and the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, more than 10,000 people have died from the virus in this country, but some experts have accused the government of hiding the true impact of the virus with the way it counts new cases.