A crane lifts the wreckage of a car as rescue workers search for survivors in the debris of a collapsed building on Sunday in Izmir, Turkey. Photo: AFP

Rescue workers were searching eight wrecked buildings on Sunday amid dwindling hope for survivors as the death toll from a powerful earthquake which hit western Turkey rose to 75.

The 7.0-magnitude quake also injured 940 people, the Turkish emergency authority the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (abbreviated as AFAD in Turkish) said, after it struck on Friday afternoon near the west coast town of Seferihisar in Izmir.

More than 200 people were in hospital, the authority said.

The worst affected Turkish town was Bayrakli, where anxious families in thick blankets spent a second night in tents, preparing for a third.

Others watched nervously as rescue workers went through the debris for a second day, including in a residential area where three buildings' lower floors collapsed, killing an unknown number.

There was desperation and overwhelming fear among families outside one collapsed building, with men and women in tears including a rescue worker whose eyes welled up, caught on video by local media.

Nearly 6,000 rescuers have been working day and night since Friday, mechanical diggers helping them remove blocks of concrete.

AFP