A wave of solidarity has swept Turkey in the aftermath of the killer earthquake in the Marmara region, with the greatest disaster to hit the country in decades uniting a normally deeply divided society to rally round the victims.

Thousands of Turks from across Anatolia have been rushing to the rescue of their countrymen in the quake region, bringing food, water, clothes, any know-how they might have or even just a shovel and a will to work.

In their rush to the rescue, well-meaning volunteers at times even clogged critical roads and rescue ways with their cars and vans.

While the government's initial efforts were sharply criticised as falling far short of what was needed, private citizens lost no time in setting off for the crisis region or organising aid shipments.

"Friends in Ankara, you can bring your contributions to the following address," a news item posted on the Internet site of a private Turkish aid organisation read.

"Our convoy leaves on Friday. Please hurry."

"Anyone willing to take in quake victims, please call this number," another such message said.

A third posting tells Turks with a grasp of foreign languages where to call to volunteer as translators for foreign rescue teams.

The site has met with a huge response, its organisers of the AKUT mountaineering and rescue organisation say.

Hydrofoils leaving several times a day from Istanbul for the badly stricken southern shores of the Marmara Sea are loaded down with food, clothes and water donated by private citizens, while the decks are crowded with medical students and other volunteers off to join in the rescue effort.

Several banks and shops in Istanbul have granted paid leave to staff willing to volunteer for rescue and aid work.

A private bakery is sending a truckload of fresh loaves to Izmit every morning, while a greengrocer in Adapazari has been making daily rounds of the improvised refugee camps distributing fresh fruit and vegetables.

Hundreds of larger companies across the country have pledged huge sums of money for humanitarian aid and reconstruction and sent whole convoys of goods to the Marmara region.

Provinces and municipalities outside the stricken region have rallied too.

Dozens of provincial governments have shipped trucks, tents, generators and foodstuffs, and several cities have sent part of their garbage collection force to help clear up the rubble and refuse in the devastated towns.

The state-owned company in charge of construction work on the huge dam-building projects on the Euphrates in the south-east of the country are moving their caterpillar tractors and excavators north to help dismantle collapsed buildings.

Universities in Istanbul and Ankara have put their student hostels at the disposal of homeless quake victims.

The spirit of solidarity which has swept the country is not limited to Turks alone.

A collection of donations among the tourists staying at a holiday-village in Manavgat near Antalya on the Mediterranean coast raised some £2,100 for the disaster relief effort.