1999 Izmit earthquake: Looking back on the 45 seconds that devastated Turkey

Semra Gürkan weeps as the remains of her 16-year-old brother are taken by rescue workers to an ambulance after being pulled out of the rubble in the Turkish town of Gölcük Monday Aug. 23, 1999. More than 18,000 people were killed in the cities of Kocaeli, Istanbul, Bursa, Sakarya and Yalova when the notorious North Anatolian Fault Line cracked and triggered the deadliest disaster since 1939.

A satellite picture, taken on August 17, 1999 shows the area around the Turkish city of Golcuk hit by the devastating earthquake. The blue patches in the top left of the photo and the blur of red near the coastline are clouds. However, the tiny red dots in the built-up areas are all collapsed buildings. The image is created by superimposing a photo from after the earthquake over a photograph taken beforehand.

A total of 365,000 buildings were damaged in the 1999 earthquake and more than 112,000 of them either collapsed or became uninhabitable due to heavy damage.

An elderly Istanbulian man searches for whatever he can rescue from the remains of his five-story apartment building which was flattened by a powerful earthquake in Istanbul early August 17, 1999.

Residents of Izmit search for survivors in a destroyed house after a heavy quake hit western Turkey in the early morning hours of August 17, 1999.

Turkish gendarme stands guard as policemen secure the area near the rubble of a five-story apartment building in the Avcılar district of Istanbul which was hit by a powerful earthquake in Istanbul early August 17, 1999. Four people died in this building and three were rescued.

Inhabitants of Körfez, about 70 km south-east of Istanbul, sleep on the street after an earthquake hit the region in the early morning hours of August 17, 1999.

Residents of Izmit, some 90 kilometers from Istanbul search for victims in a collapsed apartment building after a heavy quake hit western Turkey early morning, August 17, 1999.

Firemen spray water and foam on a fire started in a paint factory in Istanbul which was amongst many buildings hit early, August 17, 1999.

Residents sit in front of their destroyed apartment blocks in Izmit, some 90 kilometers from Istanbul.

Residents of Izmit, some 90 kilometers from Istanbul, search the debris of a completley destroyed hotel in the town after a heavy earthquake hit the western Turkey early morning, August 17, 1999.

Residents and rescue workers carry the body of a quake victim to an ambulance after being removed from the wreckage of a five-story apartment building in the Avcılar district of Istanbul August 17, 1999. Four people died in this building as three were rescued.

Police hold back a man trying to search for his brother who is believed to have been trapped under the rubble of a five-story apartment building which collapsed in the Avcılar district of Istanbul following a powerful earthquake, August 17, 1999.

An elderly woman sits in her earthquake destroyed house in the town of Körfez near Izmit, August 18, 1999.

People inspect the wreckage of houses in Izmit, in the aftermath of an earthquake, measuring 7.8 Richter scale, that hit western Turkey in the early hours of August 17, 1999.

Residents and soldiers search for victims in the rubble of a house in Köferz, near Izmit, in western Turkey August 18.

An elderly man looks out of from the debris of his house in Gölcük as workers from the German Technical Help Organisation (THW) rescue him, August 19, 1999. The man was trapped in the rubble for more than 60 hours before being discovered by sniffer dogs. It took the THW six hours to free him from the debris.

An elderly man is carried on a stretcher by workers of the German Technical Help Organisation (THW) after he was rescued out of the debris of his house in Gölcük, August 19.

A man, sitting in his destroyed house in Gölcük August 19, looks out over the damage caused by the August 17 earthquake.

A residential area near Izmit, Turkey lies in ruin August 23 following the devastating earthquake. This photo was taken during the aid mission of the Kearsarge Amphibious Readiness Group along with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Survivors of the earthquake receive medical treatment outside an overcrowded hospital in Izmit, August 19.

Two Turkish women hold their faces and weep while sitting in front of their destroyed house in Izmit, some 90 kilometers from Istanbul after a heavy quake hit western Turkey in the early morning hours of August 17, 1999.

Family members of earthquake victims bring their dead to be buried August 20 in Sakarya following the earthquake as workers use mechanical diggers to extend the cemetery into a cornfield to accommodate more graves. The earthquake, measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale, struck eight provinces including Turkey's industrial heartland.

Members of Turkish mountain climbing team carry 23-year old Turkish woman Hamiyet Kurt after working on her rescue for more than 10 hours Wednesday, August 18, 1999, in the town of Seymen, some 120 km south of Istanbul. With thousands of people reported missing along an 80-mile arc of destruction left by the devastating earthquake, disaster relief teams from around the world joined Turkish rescue crews in the hunt for bodies and survivors.

A Turkish family lives in a tent in front of their collapsed building following the earthquake in Gölcük on Sunday, August 22, 1999.

An aerial photo shows a tent city set up for the thousands of earthquake survivors near the quake-hit northwestern Turkish city of Sakarya August 31.