February 21, 2023, 9:52 AM
February 21, 2023, 9:52 AM
an earthquake of magnitude 6.4 It shook Turkey’s southern Hatay province and northern Syria on Monday night, killing six people and sparking panic again after a strong tremor on February 6 that killed nearly 45,000 people in both countries.
The AFAD disaster response agency reported the deaths, as well as almost 300 hospitalizations, while in Syria the White Helmets aid group said at least 150 people had been injured in the Aleppo region.
The earthquake on Monday shook the Turkish city of Defne at 1704 GMT and was strongly felt by AFP crews in the nearby city of Antakya.
It was also felt inl Lebanon and Cyprus.
The Turkish disaster management agency said on Twitter that a 5.8 magnitude tremor struck three minutes afterwith its epicenter in the district of Samandag, in the province of Hatay.
The agency registered two other quakes of magnitude 5.2 about 20 minutes after the first one, on Monday.
Among the deceased are three people who were trapped have returned to their damaged homes to recover their belongings, AFAD said, warning the population not to return to damaged homes.
On Tuesday, the organization announced the shipment of an additional 6,000 tents to the region to house those in need.
Images from the DHA news agency showed the evacuation of a hospital in Antakyawhile the NTV station reported the evacuation of a hospital in the city of Iskenderun.
DHA said the patients in an intensive care unit were taken by ambulance to field hospitals for further treatment.
– The earth opened up to swallow us –
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said rescue teams were trying to find people trapped under the rubble.
An AFP journalist reported scenes of panic in Antakya, where fresh tremors raised clouds of dust in the devastated city.
The walls of the badly damaged buildings were collapsing while several people, apparently injured, asked for help.
“We were with AFAD, which was looking for the bodies of our family, when the earthquake struck. We grabbed each other and right in front of us the walls began to fall. It seemed that the earth was opening to swallow us,” Ali told AFP. Mazlum.
The young man, 18 years old, who lives in Antakya For 12 years, he had been looking for the bodies of his sister and her family, as well as that of his brother-in-law and his family.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) noted that five hospitals it supports in northwestern Syria received a number of people who had suffered minor injuries, some when parts of damaged buildings fell on them.
In government-controlled areas of Syria, hospitals in Aleppo also received panicked residents, while six people were injured by falling debris, according to the state news agency SANA.
Al Razi hospital in Aleppo received 47 casesstate media reported.
