Turkey earthquake: Two children rescued after up to 65 hours trapped in rubble as death toll soars to 81

Girl, 14, saved by emergency crews after being trapped for 58 hours

Rescuers are at work during the ongoing search operation at the site of a collapsed building as they look for survivors and victims in the city of Izmir (AFP via Getty Images)

Two girls have been rescued from a wreckage in Turkey after being stuck under rubble nearly three days following a deadly earthquake in the coastal city of Izmir, which has killed 81 people.

Idil Sirin, 14, was saved by emergency crews after being trapped for 58 hours while Elif Perincek, three, was extricated seven hours later.

It came after a 70-year-old man was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Turkey early on Sunday.

According to NTV television, Idil’s eight-year-old sister, Ipek, did not survive. Meanwhile Elif’s mother and two sisters were saved two days earlier.

Rescue workers clapped after the two girls were pulled from the rubble. They were rushed to hospital immediately afterwards, witnesses said.

The magnitude has been debated by institutions, with the US Geological Survey reporting it as 7.0, while Turkey’s disaster and emergency management service measured the quake as having a magnitude of 6.9.

Officials said the death toll in Turkey has reached 81 while 106 people have been rescued. At least 20 buildings have collapsed in Izmir, a city with a population of nearly three million.

The earthquake began on Friday in the Aegean Sea, near the northeast of the Greek island of Samos. Two teenagers died on the island and at least 19 people have been injured.

It was felt across western Turkey and hit the city of Istanbul, as well as the Greek capital of Athens.

A small tsunami hit Samos and the Seferihisar district of Izmir after the earthquake, which killed one elderly woman, and hundreds of aftershocks followed.

Turkish President Recap Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday 103 people had been rescued from the debris. 

A further 370 people were also injured in Turkey.

In 1999, there were two powerful earthquakes that killed around 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey. Meanwhile in Greece, three years ago a tremor on the island of Kos left more than 150 people injured and killed two in Turkey. 

Additional reporting by AP