Recent quake in Turkey: Relief teams rescue 23 people, seven people die in quake

ANKARA (A.A) - November 10, 2011 - A magnitude-5.6 earthquake hit Edremit town of the eastern province of Van around 9.30 p.m. on Wednesday. Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster & Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said on Thursday that 23 people were rescued but seven people died in the earthquake. AFAD said 22 planes, including 16 military, three cargo and three passenger planes, dispatched search and rescue teams and health personnel to the quake zone. According to preliminary reports, relief teams have pulled 23 people alive under rubble but seven people died in the earthquake. Also speaking to reporters in the quake-hit town, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said two hotels and a private building collapsed in the earthquake that jolted Edremit.  Atalay said 20 people were rescued under rubble of the two hotels.  Eleven hours after the earthquake, search and rescue teams pulled two men alive under the rubble of one of the demolished hotels, raising the number of rescued people to 25. One of the people rescued from one of the demolished hotels was a Japanese woman. The Japanese woman was pulled alive from the rubble five and a half hours after the quake. She was hospitalized and doctors said she was conscience.