DUZCE, Turkey -- Rescue workers from 23 countries poured into Turkey and joined thousands of soldiers Sunday in a massive effort to save people believed buried beneath the rubble of Friday's earthquake. The temblor killed at least 374 people and injured 3,000 others.
Turks signaled motorists Sunday to shut off their engines in one part of a quake-stricken town so a rescue team could listen for the cries of a child buried beneath slabs of concrete. A block away, the newly homeless lined up for blankets and food.Emergency crews and volunteer organizations say the organization of the relief efforts stands in contrast to the aftermath of the devastating Aug. 17 temblor, when relief teams wandered through the quake zone with little idea where their help was needed.
But they add that many basics including food, tools and maps are still in short supply.
"Some things are better," said German rescuer Britta Edinger, returning to camp after a day of guiding her black German shepherd sniffer, Arisha, through collapsed buildings.
She said a crisis center was established within hours of the quake to help coordinate efforts, but she quickly added that her team had to wait a day until they received maps of the city.
With temperatures plunging and chances of survival beneath the piles of rubble decreasing with every passing hour, the official death toll was expected to rise in the coming days.
But there was still hope.
In one section of town, Turkish rescuers pulled Saziye Bulut from beneath a collapsed five-story building, where she had been trapped for 41 hours.
The head of the relief team that saved her burst into tears after her rescue.
"This is the happiest day of my life," said Turgut Ozdemir. "I will not forget this moment until the end of my life."
In another area, rescuers tried to find a child believed buried under the rubble, but they later concluded that the cries were misheard. There was no trapped child.
Delays in identifying crisis areas, however, left some rescue teams pacing the crisis center.
"We came last night and we wanted to help, but there is no organization," said Armenian relief worker Sergei Doshoyan. "We want to help you," he repeated to a Turkish journalist -- a reminder of the deep tensions that still exist between the neighboring countries.
The efforts came as President Clinton left Washington on Sunday for a state visit in Turkey. He also will participate in a European summit in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, then visit Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Kosovo before returning home Nov. 23.
"This second earthquake was much more severe than we had originally thought," Clinton told reporters aboard Air Force One. "It will be very much on the minds of the Turkish leaders and the Turkish people, and we'll try to be sensitive to that."
Achim Mullar, heading a 29-person German team digging under a collapsed apartment building, commended the Turkish army for its speed in leading his army team to the site -- but it took another 12 hours for their equipment to arrive.
"It's not smooth," he said as he watched his team monitor knocking sounds deep into the crush of concrete.
Turkish volunteers attributed what improvement there was to a change in attitude by a government that was sharply criticized in the press and on the streets for its slow response to the August quake, which left more than 17,000 people dead.
"At the first earthquake, the attitude was, we are the government, we do the work," said Zarif Karac, coordinator of a civil crisis center that had just deployed 500 university students to the quake area.
This time, he said, the conservative establishment swallowed hard and took advice from the largely youthful Turkish volunteers who won praise for their efforts during the first quake.
"It was hard for them to accept our long hair and earrings, but we got the job done," Karac said.
There were still some organizational problems, he added.
"We need walkie talkies so we can send the teams out to search for collapsed buildings and contact them in an emergency. Instead, we keep them here," he said.
Last time, relief workers came days after the disaster when it became clear that the situation was out of the Turkish government's control.
"We are putting some of those lessons to use," said Shawn McPherson, a Fairfax, Va., fireman, who watched his colleagues, in dark blue uniforms, unload 100,000 pounds of equipment from two semitrailers and two bright red firetrucks with Virginia plates.
Another innovation: instead of waiting for Turkish orders, the Fairfax delegation deployed a small team immediately to seek out crises.
The smaller team, carrying bright yellow backpacks filled with a change of clothing, cutting tools and medicines, was already scrabbling through a collapsed building while the rest of their team set up headquarters.
"The Turks have internalized crisis coordination lessons," said Tom Dollan, the head of the U.S. aid team.
Anticipating the needs of quake victims, international rescue teams brought food and other supplies as well as rescue equipment.
Alongside piping that would bring air below surfaces, Danish teams unloaded piles of chocolate milk.
The Fairfax, Va., Urban Search and Rescue team added eight disease prevention specialists to its 65-member team.
The 7.2-magnitude quake struck Bolu province, an area just 45 miles east of the region worst hit by the Aug. 17 quake. That quake, which had a magnitude of 7.4, was centered on the more populated coastal areas of western Turkey.