With tens of thousands of bodies still trapped in earthquake-damaged buildings and rain falling on Turkey, health officials are concerned that epidemic diseases could spread. After a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth talks with two international health officials.

ROBERT MOORE, Independent Television News: There are many extraordinary rescues in earthquake zones, with people trapped amid twisted metal and collapsed concrete, but few can have been as dramatic as the survival of three-year-old Ismail Cimen. (Cheers and applause) He was brought to the surface today after almost a week after being buried in his home-- emaciated, severely dehydrated, his lips encrusted in dust. There was a sense of incredulity, even among his rescuers. Gaunt but clearly conscious, Ismail was rushed to a waiting ambulance, where paramedics immediately attended to the little boy.

For a people dispossessed and visibly traumatized, first the unrelenting heat and now the torrential rain has made their suffering still worse. In the most devastated towns, like here in Adapazari, the greatest threat is judged to be disease spread by water coming through the rubble in which thousands of corpses remain trapped and decomposing.

Basic measures are being taken in the earthquake zone -- masks are being worn; bottled water is available-- but still there is no sign of the coordination and organizational drive that is needed here.

DR. CLIVE CALVER: The health problem here is a disaster waiting to happen. There are maybe 30,000 bodies buried, and they're decomposing in the Turkish heat of the day. Cholera lies just around the corner, and more medicine is desperately needed.

ROBERT MOORE: But despite today's remarkable survival story, the only activity in Adapazari is demolition, for even if a few people are clinging to life in the rubble, the calculation is that many more lives would be jeopardized if this health hazard is not razed to the ground. The heavy rains falling on the rubble and the thousands of decomposing bodies all around me here have certainly hastened the decision to abandon the search for survivors. Instead, the emphasis now is on clearance work to try and prevent the outbreak of disease.

The mass graves, the bleakest of sights, are covered in white lime power being used as a disinfectant. Large numbers of trenches have been dug in preparation for those who have no survival story to tell and who still lie buried in the rubble of their own homes.

JOHN IRVINE: Today, as the authorities took away what's left of thousands of homes, the former occupants were learning to make do with the most rudimentary shelter. In the town of Yalova, 60,000 people are living outside. Every piece of open space is occupied.

Alexander Muratti is a musician. He and his daughter Marella returned to the family apartment today, but they refused to stay here. They are among those in the tents that prefer the primitive to the potentially perilous, so ingrained is the terror of what happened here a week ago.

MARELLA MURATTI (Speaking Turkish): "The earthquake caused panic, and everybody ran into the street," said 13-year-old Marella.

JOHN IRVINE: Was it very frightening?

MARELLA MURATTI (Speaking Turkish): "Yes-- it was like we were hit by a train," she said.

Aid is now reaching the needy in the quantities required. An American carrier has joined the relief effort. Her helicopters have been assessing which areas need the most supplies. Turks unaffected by the quake have also been helping. They've literally been ferrying aid from Istanbul over the Marmora Sea to their beleaguered compatriots.

KURSAT KIMYACHIOGLU, Volunteer: Yes, we're trying to help, and we have some supplies, medical supplies and kits, formulas, to deliver to the local people.

JOHN IRVINE: The numerous field hospitals set up across the region are still busy. Fourteen-month-old Busa Aslan was today checked and found to be clear of the infectious diseases that concern everybody here. Doctors are also acutely aware that many may have been mentally traumatized by what happened.

DR. LEVENT ERSOY, Turkish Army doctor: There are different patients. Some of them... hypertension, some of them, headaches, and some psychiatric problems.

JOHN IRVINE: In this region, tens of thousands of ordinary people are having to cope with extraordinary circumstances. The life with which they were familiar is gone for now, and what they are left with is not so much living as existing.