Rescue teams in Turkey have been racing against time to find people trapped under rubble following the powerful earthquake that claimed 27 lives in Turkey and Greece on Friday.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed 25 people and injured 804 on Turkey’s western coast on Friday afternoon. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the coastal town of Seferihisar in Izmir province. The earthquake had caused a mini-tsunami on the Aegan Island of Samos and streets were flooded in several coastal towns.

In Bayrakli, Turkish families and friends searched in agony amid rubble of two buildings for their family members. Across town, at a five minute distance, the remains of people killed in the earthquake was carried away in a black bag.

At some distance from the damaged buildings, the municipality has set up white tents for survivors as the health ministry rescue teams offered smaller tents for frightened families.

Survivors were provided with hot soup and water throughout the night for those waiting in the open, according to an AFP report.

Azize Akkoyun, who was present at the spot and watched the rescuers work, said, “Those curtains, they belonged to my daughter’s in-laws.” 

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She said, “We will wait all night. God willing they will come out alive,” adding that she was unable to trace them.

Residents called the town a fast developing district and said, with a population of 300,000, new buildings were coming up across the city.

Cemalettin Enginyurt, 51, whose family had been rescued and settled in a white tent said that he was feeling helpless. The former soldier said his home had suffered severe cracks and added that it was not safe for them to love there.

“With the risk of aftershocks, we decided the solution was to stay outside. Izmir has a mild climate, we’ll be alright in the short term but we’re not sure about the future,” he said.

A 53-year-old and a 62-year-old were rescued some 17 hours after the earthquake, reported local media outlets, sparking hopes of more survivors.

According to the government’s disaster agency AFAD, some 100 people have been pulled out alive.

This is however the second powerful earthquake to hit Turkey this year, after the one in January that killed 30 people in the eastern city of Elazig.

The government’s disaster agency stated that the tremors of the earthquake were felt as far as Athens and Istanbul. The earthquake injured 743 people in Izmir, while a few more were injured in Aydin, Manisa and Balikesir provinces.

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The government’s disaster agency also stated that there were 470 aftershocks following the earthquake, with 35 being above four in magnitude.

A local resident Huseyin Sarac described the moment the quake hit, and said he and his family were “extremely tense, everyone was crying.”