Huge earthquake rocks Turkey; rescuers dig to free victims

ISTANBUL, Turkey - The worst recorded earthquake to hit western Turkey killed at least 1,100 people and injured thousands today, destroying buildings and cutting off power and water to millions living along the heavily populated Bosporus Strait.

By late afternoon, the crisis center at the prime minister's office had tallied 1,169 dead and 5,550 injured. The numbers were expected to rise.

Private NTV television said 160 sailors were reported dead in the collapse of two navy buildings in the town of Golcuk. Authorities said at least 156 people were killed in Istanbul, where 3,721 were injured, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said.

The quake struck at 3 a.m. local time (8 p.m. EDT Monday), catching most people asleep. The lucky ones ran into the street in panic, others were crushed in the rubble.

Many fled their homes in night clothes and without shoes. Later they walked through the glass-strewn streets with cloth wrapped around their feet.

Dozens of buildings and highway overpasses collapsed in Istanbul, state TV said. Many roads were severely damaged and unpassable.

Residents working under car headlights used their bare hands to try to dig people out of the rubble in the predawn hours, while the young and elderly slept in the open. One elderly man was filmed by Turkish television reading from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in front of a truck.

Tanks at a state oil refinery in Izmit caught fire, but officials later said the damage was minor.

Ali Pinar, an official from the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory, said Izmit, also known as Kocaeli, is located on a quake-prone fault line.

At least 100 people besides the 160 sailors were believed killed in Golcuk, which is near Izmit and 80 miles southeast of Istanbul.

"There could be as many as 10,000 people under the debris," said Mayor Ismail Baris. He said 500 buildings housing 20,000 families had collapsed.

With the city's resources exhausted, it was mostly neighbors and relatives who fought to pull people from the wreckage.

The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., said the quake had a magnitude of 7.8, making it nearly as powerful as the 7.9-magnitude San Francisco quake in 1906, which killed 700 people. The quake occurred at a relatively shallow six miles below the surface.

More than 250 aftershocks followed, the Kandilli observatory said.

President Clinton today offered his thoughts and prayers to survivors.

"We must stand with them and do whatever we can to help them to get through this terrible crisis," Clinton said.

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who was in Istanbul for talks on Caspian Sea oil and gas pipeline projects, was unhurt, as was Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was visiting Ankara.

Richardson told reporters the United States had offered assistance and was waiting for Turkey to assess what it needs. He called the quake "devastating."

"Forty-five seconds worth of very violent shaking in our hotel room, myself and my staff. It was very violent shaking and we were able to observe the darkness of the earthquake, people streaming into the streets. Lights going out in Istanbul," he said.

Japan and Switzerland immediately dispatched teams to help with the rescue operation, NTV said. Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said its army rescue unit was on alert and told Turkish authorities it could be sent immediately.

In a show of support for its traditional rival, Greek Premier Costas Simitis ordered his nation's emergency services to be placed on alert to help Turkey deal with the earthquake.

A plane later took off with 11 doctors, pharmaceutical aid and a 25-member rescue team with sniffer dogs and specialized equipment to locate those trapped in rubble, the Athens News Agency reported.

Hundreds of people also were reported injured in the western Turkey cities of Bursa, Eskisehir, Bolu and Yalova. Thirty people were reported dead in Bolu, Anatolia said.

"We need everything: field hospitals, kitchens, tents and ambulances," said Gov. Nihat Ozgol said in Yalova, where 90 people died.

A dozen hours after the quake, many victims remained buried in the rubble of their homes.

"They can hear the voices of my mother and sister but know nothing about my father and brother," said Arsu Yilmaz as she watched rescue workers digging at a building in Avcilar district. A 5-year-old girl was extracted from the rubble unharmed.

NTV said hospitals were turning away people with minor injuries in Izmit and treating people on sidewalks. Medical workers were reportedly breaking pharmacy windows to get supplies.

When the temblor struck, thousands headed for the relative safety of the open street.

"We saw the floor move, we all ran out of the house," said Ramazan Aydeniz, sitting in front of his ice cream shop in Istanbul. "The kids, the elders were all in a panic."

Ahmet Cafoglu, head of the Turkish Standards Institute, blamed shoddy construction for the vast damage and huge loss of life.

The Energy Ministry said two gas-fired power plants were damaged as well as several power transmission lines. There were blackouts in parts of western Anatolia, including Istanbul.

Water service was also out in Istanbul, a metropolis of 12 million people, and other towns.

There was no visible damage to Istanbul's treasured historic sites, including the Blue Mosque, the nearly 1,500-year-old Saint Sophia or Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman sultans. Tens of thousands of tourists visit them each summer.

The quake also shook the capital Ankara, 270 miles to the east. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury there, although power outages were experienced in some areas.

The last major earthquake to hit Turkey, a 6.3-magnitude quake on June 27, 1998, killed 144 people and injured more than 1,500 in and around the southern city of Adana.

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