Throughout the night, massive floodlights illuminated wrecked buildings as rescue teams searched for survivors. France, Russia, the Czech Republic and other countries promised to send sniffer dogs and other rescue personnel and equipment. Greek officials reported 73 people still missing and 250 hospitalized with injuries. Thousands of frightened Athenians poured into streets and fields as the 10-second earthquake rumbled across the area. Most residents spent the night outdoors in parks, stadiums and open fields, mindful of the thousands still missing in pancaked apartment buildings across the Bosporus Strait in Turkey.
Rescue workers tend to a man injured by falling masonry during the earthquake.
Courtesy BBC Ironically, Turkey dispatched earthquake rescue teams to its long-time foe, returning the same favor extended by Greece just weeks earlier. Greek officials warned Athenians not to venture back into their homes until they had been expected by engineering teams moving through the city. Fearing the worst, thousands of others fled the city altogether, creating nightmarish traffic scenarios and frustrating rescue workers' attempts to reach affected buildings. The high death toll in Turkey is being blamed on shoddy construction practices, which resulted in thousands of buildings collapsing during last month's earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. Tuesday's earthquake struck a sparsely populated region of north Athens.