Rescue crews on Monday pulled a 40-year-old woman from the wreckage of a building a week after two powerful earthquakes struck, but reports of rescues are coming less often as the time since the quake reaches the limits of the human body’s ability to survive without water, especially in sub-freezing temperatures.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February. They killed at least 33,185, with the toll expected to rise considerably as search teams find more bodies.
Sibel Kaya, 40, was rescued after spending 170 hours beneath the rubble of a five-story building in the town of Islahiye, in Gaziantep province. She was rescued by a mixed crew that included members of Turkey’s coalmine rescue team.
