The governor of the Turkish province of Bursa has ordered more than 2 million people to spend the night outdoors tonight, after a warning of a possible repeat of Tuesday's earthquake in which nearly 7,000 people died. The Turkish President, Bulent Ecevit, has said that tent cities will be established to accommodate and feed the thousands of people left homeless in the worst hit areas. More than 80 planes have now arrived in Turkey, carrying 2,000 rescuers and relief aid.
Rescue workers have now shifted their focus from saving survivors to recovering the dead. Turkish authorities say that 6,800 people are known to have died, a rise of 2,000 since dawn. Another 33,000 are injured and hospitals can only provide basic care. Turkey's economic infrastructure has also been badly affected, it is estimated that the quake could cost the economy $40 billion. The International Monetary Fund has pledged that it will support Turkey and is expected to agree to a standby loan.
A fire caused by the earthquake at the country's largest oil refinery near the city of Izmit is still burning, but the Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has said that it is now under control. Firefighters are trying to control blazes at two tanks. Earlier today British search and rescue teams pulled two survivors from the rubble. In Adapazari, they rescued a 41-year-old man from the ruins, while a woman in her forties was rescued from a collapsed five-storey apartment in Duzce. The team also removed four bodies from the building.
Among the specialist teams that have arrived in Turkey is one from the medical charity, Medicins sans Frontieres. The team's director, Martin de Smit, said that many hospitals had been damaged by the earthquake and could provide only basic care.
