As another earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region late Monday triggering panic, the United Nations said today that its teams on the ground are assessing the situation and stand ready to provide additional support as needed.
The latest earthquake comes just two weeks after the area was devastated by a larger quake that killed more than 47,000 people and reduced lakhs of homes to rubble.
Monday’s earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4, was centered near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon, according to a Reuters report.
“My thoughts continue to be with the people of Turkiye and Syria, as they face the impact of new earthquakes striking the region this evening,” tweeted Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the
UN.
My thoughts continue to be with the people of Türkiye and Syria, as they face the impact of new earthquakes striking the region this evening.@UN teams on the ground are assessing the situation, and we stand ready to provide additional support as needed.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 20, 2023
Triggering further panic, the fresh earthquake struck at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
Buildings weakened by the earlier earthquake are reported to have collapsed in both countries on Monday and at least three people are reported to have been killed and several injured.
Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency says the 6.4 tremor occurred at 20:04 local time (17:04 GMT), followed by the 5.8 quake three minutes later.
Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas told HaberTurk broadcaster that he had received reports about some people stuck under rubble after the latest quake. Three people were killed and more than 200 injured, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
FLASH: Two new earthquakes have hit the Turkey-Syria Border, AGAIN. A 6.4 magnitude earthquake followed by a 5.8 tremor shook the Hatay area, located south of Turkey. pic.twitter.com/0nwNKYht4B
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 20, 2023
In Samandag, where the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority AFAD reported one person dead, residents said more buildings collapsed but most of the town had already fled after the initial earthquakes. Mounds of debris could be seen on abandoned streets.
President Tayyip Erdogan said construction work on nearly 200,000 apartments in 11 earthquake-hit provinces of Turkey would begin next month.
Among the survivors of the earthquakes are about 356,000 pregnant women who urgently need access to health services, the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency has said.
