A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey near the Syrian border late Monday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 300 — two weeks after catastrophic twin earthquakes devastated the region, leaving more than 46,000 people dead millions more homeless.
The quake — almost as forceful as the 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck on Feb. 6 — brought further destruction and despair to the already ravaged Hatay province in southern Turkey.
Its tremors were centered around the town of Defne, one of the worst-hit areas from the earlier quakes, Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said.
Shocks from the powerful rumble were also felt in Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and as far away as Egypt.
A second magnitude 5.8 earthquake also struck several minutes later, centered in the town of Samandag in Hatay Province, AFAD said.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Monday three people were killed and 213 injured.
In neighboring Syria, the White Helmets — northwest Syria’s civil defense organization — reported more than 130 injuries.
Antakya resident Muna Al Omar said she was in a tent in a park when disaster struck again.
Like many in the Hatay province capital, Omar has already been displaced and is living in a temporary housing shelter.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” she said through tears while holding her 7-year-old son in her arms. “Is there going to be another aftershock?”
Videos show panicked people filling the streets after feeling shocks as far north as Diyarbakır province and Adana province.
In the city of Adana, in Adana province, eyewitness Alejandro Malaver said people fled their homes, carrying blankets into their cars — and are so scared that “no one wants to get back into their houses.”
The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria, said it had treated several patients who suffered heart attacks brought on by fear from the new quakes, including a 7-year-old boy.
Monday’s major tremor struck at a depth of 6.2 miles, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The aftershock was measured at a depth of 1.2 miles.
AFAD urged people to stay away from the Mediterranean coast, as the sea level could rise up to 20 inches.
NTV television reported that the quake caused some already-damaged buildings to collapse.
Police patrolled the streets in Hatay province while ambulances and rescue teams arrived to check on residents.
Smaller tremors have been felt throughout the region over the last two weeks, but Monday’s was the largest since Feb. 6.
“It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places,” said Burhan Abdelrahman, who had left his tent in a camp in Atakya city center at the time of the earthquake.
“I called relatives in Syria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them.”
The death toll from the catastrophic earthquakes that hit the region earlier this month surpassed 46,000 this week.
Miraculous rescues have been made across Turkey and Syria over the past two weeks, where rescue workers have been working relentlessly to try and pull as many survivors as they can from the mounds of debris.
Here’s the latest coverage on the Turkey-Syria earthquake:
- Turkey hit by new 6.4-magnitude earthquake near Syrian border
- Turkish officials to largely end search for victims from earthquake as death toll tops 46K
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours Turkey quake devastation
Two people were pulled out alive from the rubble in Turkey on Thursday, 11 days after the earthquake decimated the region — including a mother-of-two whose family had lost hope and prepared her grave.
“We had prepared her grave and we asked the rescue workers to stop digging as we feared they would damage the remaining corpses under the rubble,” the woman’s brother-in-law said.
“Moments later, her voice was heard from under the ruins of the building.”
Two brothers were also among at least nine other people pulled out of quake rubble in Turkey last Tuesday, some 200 hours after the massive tremors rocked the region.
One of the siblings survived by drinking protein powder, while another survivor said he was playing video games when his building collapsed.
Eight days after the cataclysmic earthquake struck, an unconscious 5-year-old girl was pulled out from beneath the rubble in Syria. Chilling photos showed the child being carted away on an orange gurney.
However, rescue missions have dwindled drastically in recent days, and shifted toward recovery missions.
On Sunday — just a day before the fresh 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured damage in some of Turkey’s hardest-hit areas with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and pledged an additional $100 million in aid.
“This is going to be a long-term effort,” Blinken told rescue workers at the joint US-Turkish Incirlik Air Base. “The search and rescue, unfortunately, is coming to an end. The recovery is on, and then there will be a massive rebuilding operation.
With Post wires
