World

Turkey: Fresh Jolt Brings Panic

August 16, 1999 / 10:08 PM EDT / AP

Mobbing bus stations and jamming roads, panicked residents fled the center of Turkey's earthquake zone after two strong jolts rocked buildings weakened by a quake earlier this month.

At least one person was killed, and many of the at least 166 injured hurt themselves jumping from balconies and windows when Tuesday's 5.2-magnitude tremor hit, followed by a 4.6-magnitude aftershock 20 minutes later.

Terrified customers at a bank in Izmit banged on windows they could not open. Children at a kindergarten set up in a tent city for quake victims shrieked, Â"It's moving! A new earthquake!Â"

The new tremor, like the 7.4-magnitude Aug. 17 earthquake, was centered in Izmit, a city of 300,000 on the Sea of Marmara.

Falling debris struck a 30-year-old man in Izmit, adding to a two-week death toll that has topped 14,300. Thousands more are missing.

Tuesday's jolts caught some as they re-entered damaged homes. Seismologists said the tremors were aftershocks that would persist for months, and they urged people to give up on salvaging belongings from wrecked homes.

After Tuesday's tremors, many in Izmit and adjoining towns in the 200-mile-long quake zone were more than ready to give up -- and get out.

Â"We just packed our bags and hit the road,Â" said Cem Ergezer, filling up his gas tank to take his parents to the Aegean Coast. Â"That last quake frightened us very much.Â"

In Izmit, a bus company brought in extra buses to cope with the terrified exodus. Employees sold tickets outside their damaged office.

Â"I'm tempted to leave too. But if I leave, there is no one to sell these people bus tickets. So I must stay,Â" said one worker, Ufuk Kardes.

Traffic backed up on the main highway out of Izmit.

Tuesday's tremors could be felt in Istanbul, 50 miles away.

After bitter criticism of the initial rescue effort as slow and haphazard, the government promised Tuesday to step up civil defense training and form rescue teams to deal with natural disasters.

It also announced upcoming decrees to make it easier to adopt children orphaned by the quake.

The government estimates that up to 600,000 people were left homeless by the earthquake, with most living in tents and shelters scattered throughout the quake zone.

Officials pledged that quake victims would be provided with houses before Turkey's winter arrives.

Â"We are not going to let citizens spend the winter in the tents,Â" said government spokesman Sukru Sina Gurel.