Man, 70, pulled from earthquake rubble in Turkey as toll hits 57

Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The death toll from a strong earthquake in western Turkey rose to at least 58 with more than 100 injured but a 70-year-old man was rescued from the rubble Sunday.

Ahmet Citim, 70, was pulled from the site at night 34 hours after the earthquake struck Izmir with the epicenter in the Aegean Sea northeast of the Greek island of Samos, Anadolu Agency reported. The U.S. Geological Survey rated it as a magnitude 7.0 quake.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca visited Citim in the hospital and said his condition is good.

"Get well soon," Koca posted on Twitter. "Thank you also for your words that made us happy, 'I never lost hope.' ""

The revised death toll included two teenagers on Damos and at least 19 others injured there.

"We are determined to heal the wounds of our brothers and sisters in Izmir, who are affected by the earthquake, before cold weather and rains start," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party in the Black Sea province of Samsun.

Search-and-rescue teams were searchers for survivors in nine toppled or damaged buildings in Izmir.

Erdogan said new houses will be built "as soon as possible" for those whose homes have been destroyed .

More than 100 people have been rescued from under the debris and 702 victims have so far been discharged from hospitals but eight remain in intensive care units, Koca said.

The quake triggered a small tsunami in Samos and the Seferihisar district of Izmir, where one elderly woman drowned. Also, there have been 902 aftershocks with 42 magnitude-4.0 quakes.

Tremors were felt in Istanbul, Turkey, as well as in the Greek capital of Athens.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Saturday he called Erdogan "to offer my condolences for the tragic loss of life from the earthquake that struck both our countries."

"That two neighbors show solidarity in difficult times is more valuable than many things in life," Ergodan tweeted.

The Aegean Sea is the site of historic seismic activity due to a network of underwater tectonic plates and faults. The USGS called the earthquake an "intraplate event," where the Africa plate grinds against the the Eurasia tectonic plate.

A 1956 quake followed by aftershocks and a tsunami killed 53 people and injured more than 100 in Greece. On July 20, 2017, a temblor measuring 6.6-magnitude in Bodrum, Turkey, killed two people.