ANTAKYA: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has rocked Turkiye’s southern province of Hatay and northern Syria, killing six people and sparking fresh panic after a massive February 6 tremor left nearly 45,000 dead in both countries.
The AFAD disaster response agency reported the deaths, as well as nearly 300 hospitalisations, while in Syria the White Helmets aid group said at least 150 people were injured in the Aleppo region.
The quake hit the Turkish town of Defne on Monday at 8:04 pm and was strongly felt by teams in the nearby city of Antakya. It was also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus.
Turkiye’s disaster management agency said on Twitter that a 5.8-magnitude quake followed three minutes later, with its epicentre in the Samandag district of Hatay province.
The agency recorded two more tremors with magnitudes of 5.2 around 20 minutes after the first on Monday. “The road moved like waves. The building moved back and forth, the cars moved left to right. It knocked me off my feet,” said Mehmet Irmak, who works at a notary’s office in Antakya.
“Hatay is no longer a safe place. We could hear a lot of buildings collapsing,” said Irmak, who had been sleeping in his car for two weeks after the first quake. “We will wait for a new day, but I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.
Among the dead were three people who became trapped after returning to their damaged flats to retrieve belongings, said AFAD, warning people against going back to homes at risk.
On Tuesday, the organisation said it was sending 6,000 extra tents to the region to shelter those in need.
Images from DHA news agency showed a hospital in Antakya being evacuated, while broadcaster NTV reported that a hospital was evacuated in the city of Iskenderun.
DHA said patients in an intensive care unit were taken by ambulance to field hospitals to continue their treatment.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said rescue workers were trying to find people trapped under rubble.
A journalist reported scenes of panic in Antakya, with the new tremors raising clouds of dust in the devastated city. The walls of badly damaged buildings crumbled while several people, apparently injured, called for help.
On a street in Antakya, Ali Mazlum, 18, said: “We were with AFAD who were looking for the bodies of our family when the quake hit. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
