Izmir residents look for shelter, answers in earthquake aftermath
As Izmir residents recover from a 7.0 earthquake that hit Turkey’s third-largest city Friday, engineers look for ways to reduce structural damage in future natural disasters.
ISTANBUL – Fatma Demirer, a lawyer in Izmir, was visiting a client in prison when a strong earthquake hit the city Friday afternoon on Oct. 30. She had left her cell phone at the prison entrance, as is required in Turkey, and when she recovered it upon exiting, she found dozens of messages from family members and colleagues who were eagerly awaiting her response.
Demirer soon learned her office building had collapsed and her co-worker Sercan Turgut was inside.
