Monday, February 20, 2023

New 6.4 Quake Hits Turkey, Several Aftershocks, Felt In Syria, Egypt And Lebanon

New 6.4 earthquake strikes Turkey as death toll climbs to nearly 47,000


Turkey was hit with another earthquake Monday as a 6.4 earthquake rattled Samandag even as the country is still cleaning up from one of the worst natural disasters in its history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 

There were no immediate reports of damage, injuries or deaths from officials. 

Samandag is located in Hatay province, which suffered catastrophic damage in the quake that struck on Feb. 6.

At a camp where 700 people who are now homeless from the prior earthquake, buildings shook for about 15 seconds around 8 p.m. local time and lights went off in the distance. 

Most of the people in the camp were sitting outside huddling around fires to keep warm when the earthquake occurred. Many started praying and shouting to get away from buildings.

Several aftershocks were felt following the initial quake. 

Monday's quake comes as officials from Turkey and Syria said the death toll from the quake that struck two weeks ago has reached 46,957 total, with 41,156 in Turkey and 5,801 in Syria.


6.4 magnitude earthquake hits southern Turkey

BBC News

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck southern Turkey, weeks after a deadly quake devastated the region. 

Turkey's disaster and emergency agency Afad said the tremor occurred at 20.04 local time (17.04 GMT).

Witnesses told the Reuters news agency there had been further damage to buildings in Antakya. 

A 7.8-magnitude struck the region on 6 February, killing more than 44,000 people in Turkey and Syria. 

Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since that earthquake hit, but the BBC team in the region said today's tremor felt much stronger than previous ones. 

Witnesses said it was also felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. 

It is currently unclear how much damage it has caused or if there are any casualties.

In a tweet, Afad urged people to stay away from coastlines as a precaution against the risk of rising sea levels. 

Muna Al Omar, a local resident, told Reuters she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit. 

"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," she said, crying as she held her seven-year-old son. 

"Is there going to be another aftershock?" she asked.

An AFP journalist reported on scenes of panic in Antakya - which was already devastated by the previous earthquake - with the latest tremors raising clouds of dust in the city.

The walls of badly damaged buildings also crumbled, AFP reports, with several apparently injured people calling for help.

Ali Mazlum said he was looking for the bodies of family members from the previous earthquake when the latest one hit.

"You don't know what to do... we grabbed each other and right in front of us, the walls started to fall. It felt like the earth was opening up to swallow us up," he said. 

Antakya, the capital of Turkey's Hatay Province, was one of the places hit most severely by the earthquake on 6 February. 

In Syria, the civil defence group White Helmets said several people were injured by falling buildings.




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