Members of the Turkish police special forces carry a wounded man after another earthquake strikes Antakya, Turkey. [Berkcan Zengin/Reuters]
A new magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Monday hit Turkey and Syria’s border region, killing three people, weeks after devastating quakes killed tens of thousands of people.
More than 200 people have also been injured in Turkey as buildings collapsed trapping some people. Dozens of injuries were also recorded in neighboring Syria.
Monday’s earthquake was centered in the town of Defne, in Turkey’s Hatay province, one the worst-hit regions in the magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes that struck on February 6. It was felt in Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and as far away as Egypt, and followed by a second, 5.8 magnitude temblor.
Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and 213 injured. Search and rescue efforts were under way in three collapsed buildings where six people were believed trapped.
In Hatay, police rescued one person trapped inside a three-story building and were trying to reach three others inside, HaberTurk television reported. It said those trapped included movers helping people shift furniture and other belongings from the building that was damaged in a previous quake.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that six people were injured in Aleppo by falling debris. The White Helmets, northwest Syria’s civil defense organization, reported more than 130 injuries, most of them non-life threatening, including fractures and cases of people fainting from fear, while a number of buildings in areas already damaged by the earthquakes collapsed.
The February 6 quakes killed nearly 47,000 people in both countries – mostly in Turkey, where more than 1.5 million people are in temporary shelters. Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since.
Injured people lie on the ground in Antakya. [Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP]
A rescue worker searches for victims in a collapsed building after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Antakya. [Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP]
Rescue workers at a collapsed building in Antakya. [Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP]
People stay outdoors in downtown Beirut after the earthquake was felt across Lebanon. [Wael Hamzeh/EPA]
Monday’s largest earthquake, this time with a magnitude of 6.3, was centred near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. [Wael Hamzeh/EPA]
A member of Turkish police special forces carries a wounded man in Antakya. [Berkcan Zengin/Reuters]
People react after the earthquake in Antakya. Turkey’s disaster management agency said another magnitude 5.8 quake followed three minutes later and its epicentre was the Samandag district in Hatay. [Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]
People in the al-Bab district of Aleppo go out to the safe areas, after 6.3 and 5.8 magnitude earthquakes hit the Hatay province in Turkey. [Mustafa Bathiş/Anadolu]
The White Helmets, northwest Syria’s civil defense organization, reported more than 130 injuries, most of them non-life threatening, including fractures and cases of people fainting from fear. [Mustafa Bathiş/Anadolu]
