Death Toll In Turkey From Earthquake Rises To 83

The death toll in Turkey from Friday's powerful earthquake jolting the Aegean region has risen to 83, the country's environment and urbanization minister said Monday.

Speaking at a news conference in the western Izmir province, Murat Kurum updated the number of heavily damaged and destroyed buildings to 58.

With cold weather conditions affecting quake victims, Kurum called on citizens to seek shelter at local guest houses.

"We began the process for setting up a container city. We will establish a container city with a capacity to host 1,000 people on an area of 46,300 square meters (498,000 square feet) in Bayrakli district," he added.

On Friday, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit Izmir, the third largest city of Turkey with some 4.37 million population.

Similarly to Kurum, Family, Labor and Social Services Minister Zehra Zumrut Selcuk also urged the citizens to take shelter at public guest houses in Izmir.

"We have a capacity of over 7,000 in public guest houses. This number can be further increased according to need," Selcuk added.

She further said that additional 5 million Turkish liras (some $595,000) will be transferred on Monday to Friday's 5 million Turkish liras social aid that was sent to the region by the Family, Labor and Social Services Ministry.

Some 1,120 aftershocks have hit the area since then, 43 of them above magnitude 4, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

It added that 962 people were injured, with 743 of them discharged from hospitals and 219 people still under treatment.

So far, 1,864 tents have been installed, with 2,038 currently being set up.

Temporary accommodation has been established to meet the urgent need for shelter in the city, with over 3,500 tents, some 24,400 blankets, 13,300 beds, 5,500 sleeping sets, 2,600 kitchen sets, and four showers and toilet containers shipped to the area, AFAD noted.

So far, 106 people have been pulled from the debris as search and rescue activities continue.

The latest figures come after three-year-old Elif Perincek was pulled from debris in the Bayrakli district on Monday nearly 65 hours after the quake.

Earlier, a 14-year-old girl was recovered from the rubble 58 hours after the tremor. Following the first aid, Idil Sirin was taken to a local hospital.

Turkey is among the world's most seismically active zones as it is situated on several active fault lines. It has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past as well. -