3 dead, more than 200 hurt as new quake hits Turkey, Syria
Published:Tuesday | February 21, 2023 | 1:02 AM
ANKARA (AP):
A new 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday killed three people and injured more than 200 in parts of Turkey that were laid waste two weeks ago by a massive quake that killed tens of thousands. Officials said more buildings collapsed, trapping occupants, and several people were injured in both Turkey and Syria.
Monday’s earthquake was centred in the town of Defne, in Turkey’s Hatay province, one of the worst-hit regions in the 7.8-magnitude quake that hit on February 6. It was felt in Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and as far away as Egypt, and was followed by a second, 5.8magnitude temblor.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and 213 injured. Search-and-rescue efforts were underway in three collapsed buildings where a total of five people were believed trapped.
A number of buildings collapsed in the new quake, trapping people inside, Hatay’s Mayor Lutfu Savas said. He told NTV television that these may be people who had returned to their homes or were trying to move their furniture out of damaged buildings.
Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said at least eight people were hospitalsed in Turkey. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that six people were injured in Aleppo from falling debris.
In Hatay, police search teams rescued one person who was trapped inside a three-storey building and were trying to reach three others inside, HaberTurk television reported.
The February 6 quake killed nearly 45,000 people in both countries – the vast majority of them in Turkey, where more than a million and a half people are in temporary shelters. Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since.
HaberTurk journalists reporting from Hatay said they were jolted violently by Monday’s quake and held on to each other to avoid falling.
In the Turkish city of Adana, eyewitness Alejandro Malaver said people left their homes for the streets, carrying blankets into their cars. Malaver said everyone is really scared and that “no one wants to get back into their houses”.