At least 12 people were killed in Turkey and two in Greece when a major earthquake in the Aegean Sea rattled parts of both countries Friday, leveling structures in the western Turkish province of Izmir and severely damaging several residential buildings.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, speaking from Istanbul on Friday evening, said that another 438 people had been injured in his country. Rescue efforts were still under way in 17 buildings in Izmir late Friday.
Murat Kurum, the Turkish environment minister, said in televised remarks that there were reports of people trapped under debris, many of them in the Bayrakli neighborhood of Izmir, a province with a population of more than 4 million.
Images posted to social media and videos aired on state television showed people being rescued from the rubble. The full extent of the injuries and deaths was still unclear as rescue operations continued.
The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.0, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was centered off Samos, a Greek island near Turkey's coast, according to Turkey's disaster management agency.
Two children died in Samos when a wall collapsed on them, Greek state news reported.
The quake was felt in Istanbul, about 200 miles northeast of Izmir, and in parts of Greece. But much of the initial damage seemed to be centered in the city of Izmir, a center for tourism and industry that is prone to earthquakes.
At least six buildings were destroyed in the city, Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, said in a tweet, although the city's mayor put the number of destroyed buildings closer to 20. Soylu said there were no initial reports of casualties from nearby cities.
The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation said on Twitter that it had sent a 250-person search-and-rescue team to the area.
Footage aired by the Turkish news agency DHA showed at least one building flattened and people climbing atop the debris to shout for survivors in the rubble.
Here's a look at the developments in both Turkey and Greece.
Turkey toll at 12
The death toll in Turkey due to the earthquake that struck on Friday rose to 12, the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.
The number of people injured rose to 419, it said, adding that search and rescue operations at 17 collapsed or damaged buildings continued. The strong earthquake was felt in both Greece and Turkey. Two people died on the Greek island of Samos, officials there said.
Teen deaths
Two teenagers were found dead on the Greek island of Samos after a quake rattled Greece and Turkey, an emergency official said on Friday.
Media reports said the two victims, the first to be reported in Greece, were aged 15 and 17, and were walking home from school in the port of Vathy when disaster struck.
"Two unconscious youngsters were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed wall and taken to hospital for identification," the fire service said.
The Greek authorities said another four people have been injured in the quake, which caused the walls of several old buildings to crumble.
Toll at 6 in Turkey
Six people were killed in Turkey after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on Friday, bringing buildings crashing down and setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and nearby Greek islands.
People ran onto streets in panic in the coastal city of Izmir, witnesses said, after the quake struck with a magnitude of up to 7.0 at around 1150 GMT. Some neighbourhoods were deluged with surging seawater which swept a flood of debris inland and left fish stranded as it receded.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said six people died, one due to drowning, while 202 people were injured.
There were various reports of collapsed buildings with people stuck in the rubble in some of districts of Izmir, one of Turkey's main tourist regions, and partial damage to property in other provinces, Turkish officials said.
Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer said around 20 buildings came down in the province. Izmir's governor said 70 people had been rescued from under the rubble.
Ilke Cide, a doctoral student who was in Izmir's Guzelbahce region during the earthquake, said he went inland after waters rose after the earthquake.
"I am very used to earthquakes... so I didn't take it very seriously at first but this time it was really scary," he said, adding the earthquake had lasted for at least 25-30 seconds.
Earthquake diplomacy
The two uneasy neighbours also suffer from historically poor relations despite both being members of the NATO military alliance.
But the quake saw a spurt of what pundits immediately termed "earthquake diplomacy", after the two countries' foreign ministers promised to help each in a rare phone call.
"Greek Foreign Minister (Nikos) Dendias called our minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to wish him the best. Both ministers stressed they were ready to help each other in case of need," the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Top Erdogan aide Fahrettin Altun tweeted that the disaster "reminds us once again how close we are despite our differences over policy".
Four dead, 120 injured
Athens/Istanbul: Four people were killed and 120 injured Friday in Turkey when a powerful earthquake struck the country's western coast and parts of Greece, the Turkish health minister said.
"Unfortunately, four of our citizens lost their lives in the earthquake" that destroyed buildings in Turkey's coastal resort city of Izmir, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.
Fahrettin Koca said 38 ambulances, two ambulance helicopters and 35 medical rescue teams were working in Izmir. About 70 people trapped under rubble in Izmir had been rescued, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 with an epicenter 13 kilometers (8 miles) north northeast of the Greek island of Samos. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 7.0. It is common for preliminary magnitudes to differ in the early hours and days after a quake. Multiple aftershocks struck the region.
'Tsunami' footage
Dramatic footage of what is said to be a minor Tsunami, tweeted by Ragıp Soylu Turskish journalist.
More footage by Ragip Soylu
Greece quake causes mini-tsunami on Samos
A powerful earthquake in Greece on Friday caused a mini-tsunami on the Aegean island of Samos and a number of buildings were damaged, public television ERT reported.
The quake caused the walls of several homes to collapse and triggered flooding in the port of Samos, according to images broadcast by the station.
Initial report
A strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on Friday and was felt in both Greece and Turkey, where some buildings collapsed in the coastal province of Izmir and a government minister said people were trapped in rubble.
People crowded onto the streets in Izmir city, witnesses said, after the quake struck with a magnitude of up to 7.0. The tremor could be felt as far away as in Istanbul and on Greek islands, where officials said some people were panicking although there were no immediate reports of injuries.
There were various reports of damage to property, with Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu saying six buildings had collapsed in two districts of the coastal city of Izmir.
Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum put the number of collapsed buildings in the area at five, and added that some people were stuck under the rubble. Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer said nearly 20 buildings had collapsed in the province.
In a tweet, Soylu said there were no reports of casualties from six other provinces where the earthquake was felt but added there were small cracks in some buildings.
Ilke Cide, a doctoral student who was in Izmir's Guzelbahce region during the earthquake, said he went inland after waters rose after the earthquake.
"I am very used to earthquakes... so I didn't take it very seriously at first but this time it was really scary," he said, adding the earthquake had lasted for at least 25-30 seconds.
Crisscrossed by major fault lines, Turkey is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. More than 17,000 people were killed in August 1999 when a 7.6 magnitude quake struck Izmit, a city southeast of Istanbul. In 2011, a quake in the eastern city of Van killed more than 500.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said its teams had been sent to the region of Friday's quake.
Residents of the Greek island of Samos, which has a population of about 45,000, were urged to stay away from coastal areas, Eftyhmios Lekkas, head of Greece's organisation for anti-seismic planning, told Greece's Skai TV.
"It was a very big earthquake, it's difficult to have a bigger one," said Lekkas.
High tidal wave warnings were in place in Samos.
"We have never experienced anything like it," said George Dionysiou, the local vice-mayor. "People are panicking." A Greek police spokesman said there was damage to some old buildings on the island, with no immediate reports of injuries.
AFAD put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.6, while the U.S. Geological Survey said it was 7.0. It struck at around 1150 GMT and was felt along Turkey's Aegean coast and the northwestern Marmara region, media said.
The epicentre was some 17 km (11 miles) off the coast of the Izmir province, at a depth of 16 km, AFAD said. The U.S
