After being devastated earlier this month by earthquakes that claimed tens of thousands of lives, a shallow magnitude 6.4 earthquake slammed the Turkey-Syria border region again.
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, the aftershock that occurred in Turkey’s Hatay province on Monday was 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) deep.
At 8:04 p.m. (17:04 gmt), the town of Defne was struck by an earthquake that was felt strongly 200 kilometers (300 miles) away in Antakya and Adana.
Several minutes later, a second magnitude 5.8 earthquake with a focal point near the Hatay district of Samandag jolted the area, according to Turkey’s disaster management service.
According to the state-run Anadolu news agency of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt all felt the tremors.
The disaster agency advised people to avoid the coast in Hatay Province, which is on the Mediterranean Sea. The agency stated that the sea level could rise by 50cm (20 inches).
Six people were reportedly hurt in Aleppo by falling rubble, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA, while the mayor of Hatay claimed many structures had collapsed and trapped people inside.
Assed Baig of Al Jazeera reported from Gaziantep that there have been rumors of additional building devastation in the area. He noted that numerous aftershocks were still occurring.
“There are buildings that are standing but have been damaged. The fear is if there are more aftershocks like this, it could bring down those buildings, threatening lives,” Baig said. “Many people here are very scared.”
Turkish rescue teams reportedly ran around after the most recent earthquakes, trying to see if anyone was hurt, according to witnesses.
The Syrian American Medical Society, which operates hospitals in northern Syria, reported treating a number of patients, among them a few who had heart attacks brought on by panic as a result of the earthquake.
Several media sites in Syria’s Idlib and Aleppo provinces, which were severely damaged earlier this month, reported that some structures had collapsed and that areas of the area had lost electricity and internet access.
According to the news outlets, a large number of individuals abandoned their homes and were gathered in public spaces.
Source: Daily Trust
