Ankara: As the Turkish government is engaged in a major rescue and search operation in two provinces to save the lives of victims under the rubble of buildings after the devastating quake hit the country last fortnight, two more earthquakes hit Turkey–Syria Border region on Monday, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
The earthquakes were reported in Turkey’s Southern Hatay province within a short span of three minutes.
“Today a Magnitude 6.4 #earthquake (#deprem) hit #Antioch (#Turkey) at 20:04:29 local time (UTC 17:04:29). Shaking was felt over 400km by approximately 30M people in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Syrian Arab Republic, and Israel,” EMSC quake tweeted.
Another earthquake was reported in Samandag with 5.8 magnitudes, as per Anadolu Agency.
This comes after a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 shook Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing over 46,000 people.
According to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency citing the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), one of the quakes occurred at around 20.04 pm, local time (1704GMT) in the Defence district of Hatay, with a magnitude of 6.4, while the other quake with a magnitude of 5.8 hit the country three minutes later, with its epicentre being in Hatay’s Samandag province.
The first quake took place at a depth of 16.7 kilometres (10.4 miles), while the second one was at a depth of 7 km (4.3 mi). Both were felt in surrounding areas.
The quakes of two weeks ago, though centred in Kahramanmaras, 100 kilometres or more from Hatay, caused extensive damage in Hatay, reported Anadolu Agency.
Turkey is still not out of the pain of losing at least 41,000 people and another earthquake hitting the country, the agency reported.
Millions of people who survived the quake need humanitarian aid, authorities say, with many survivors left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures. Rescues are now few and far between.
Earlier Turkey ended rescue efforts in eight out of ten provinces, almost two weeks after a massive earthquake killed tens of thousands of people, the country’s disaster agency said.
ANI