Rescue Workers Save Cats, Humans Trapped Under Earthquake Rubble

IZMIR, Turkey—A rescue worker risked his life to save a cat trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building, following a magnitude-7.0 earthquake near western Turkey.

The Oct. 30 earthquake leveled several structures in the city of Izmir and has killed at least 85 people. Izmir is the third-largest city in Turkey, with about 4.5 million residents.

The earthquake took place off the coast of Samos, Greece, and led to the Turkish town of Seferihisar being flooded by a “small tsunami” near the epicenter, according to local authorities. The devastating quake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

AFAD (Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency) said nearly 6,400 personnel had been enlisted for rescue work. They spent the night and next days saving trapped residents and animals in at least nine buildings.

In the footage, rescue workers are seen saving one scared cat from under the rubble of a collapsed structure.

The natural disaster was Turkey’s deadliest earthquake since 2011, when 500 people were killed in the city of Van. At least 804 people were injured during the latest earthquake in the country, AFAD reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “determined to heal the wounds of our brothers and sisters in Izmir before the cold and rains begin.”

(Edited by Fern Siegel and Carlin Becker)