In Turkey, rescuers go completely silent every few minutes to hear trapped survivors

MARASH, Turkey — Every few minutes the frenzy of rescue efforts on Haydar Aliyev Boulevard in Marash comes to a screeching halt and the area goes almost completely, eerily silent to let rescue workers better hear if a person trapped inside a collapsed building is able to respond.

Once they hear a response to their calls — either verbally or, more frequently, tapped out on concrete — the din of heavy construction vehicles, generators and shouting resumes.

The air is thick with dust and smoke, blown into people’s eyes by the cold, gusty winds.

In one building, Israeli military and civilian rescuers are trying to free a man trapped beneath the rubble. To that end, they’ve called on local residents to break into the surrounding cars, almost all of them totaled, to get their jacks in order to raise the concrete slabs slightly to help the rescue effort.