Turkey ends quake rescue efforts except in two provinces

ISTANBUL   -   Tur­key has ended rescue efforts in all provinces except the two hardest hit by last week’s mas­sive quake that killed tens of thousands of people, the Turk­ish disaster agency said Sun­day. “In many of our provinces, search and rescue efforts have been completed. They contin­ue in Kahramanmaras and Ha­tay provinces,” the agency’s chief Yunus Sezer told report­ers in Ankara. The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 was in Pazarcik district in Kahramanmaras. The tremor hit 11 Turkish south­eastern provinces in total. Sezer said search and rescue efforts continued at around 40 buildings in the provinces on the 14th day but expected the number to fall by late Sunday. There had been abundant cov­erage of rescue teams finding survivors but it has now slowed down, with no survivors found in at least 24 hours.