Kazeem Owoseni
Turkey and Syrian border have been reportedly hit by two fresh earthquakes in the late hour of Monday, killing no fewer than three people and left several buildings destroyed.
Local media reported the incident, citing emergency services.
The country’s Anadolu agency reported that several buildings collapsed as a result of the new quakes.
This new hit came barely two weeks, when a devastating earthquakes rocked Türkiye and Syria, destroyed thousands of houses, left several people homeless while killing more than 41,000 people.
According to the local media in the country, ‘Anadolu agency’ several buildings were badly affected while several others were collapsed as a result of the new quakes.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), called on locals, to avoid coastal areas, warning about the risk of a rising sea level on the Mediterranean coast.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, said that at least eight people had been injured in Monday’s quakes.
CNN Turk reported on Tuesday that Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon were all affected by the earthquake, which happened on Monday and had a magnitude of 6.4, centered close to the city of Antakya in southern Turkey. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, it happened at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
In a building where several people were trapped during the most recent earthquake, a rescue squad was seen ascending a ladder. People were reportedly in the already-damaged structure to rescue belongings before it was destroyed when the earthquake hit.
According to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 294 individuals were affected during the quake on Monday evening, with 18 of them receiving critical injuries and being taken to hospitals in Adana and Dortyol.
After the severe tremors two weeks ago, some hospitals that had continued to operate had to evacuate their patients because cracks had appeared in the structures, according to Koca.
Residents in Samandag said other houses fell but that most of the town had already fled following the initial tremors, according to the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority AFAD, which had recorded one death there on Monday. The streets were dark and deserted, surrounded with piles of trash and furniture.
A resident, Muna Al Omar, claimed that as the ground began to tremble once more, she was in a tent in a park in the heart of Antakya.
She sobbed as she cradled her 7-year-old kid in her arms on Monday, “I thought the world was going to crack up under my feet,” she said.
As rescue efforts following the earthquake and its aftershocks on February 6, attention had shifted to shelter and restoration work, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said on a visit to Turkey on Monday that Washington will assist “for as long as it takes.”
The death toll from the earthquakes two weeks ago in Turkey increased to 41,156, according to AFAD on Monday. With 385,000 apartments reported to have been significantly damaged or destroyed and many people still missing, the death toll is projected to rise.
Construction on roughly 200,000 apartments in 11 earthquake-stricken areas of Turkey will start next month, according to President Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the U.S State Department, the total amount of U.S. humanitarian aid provided to Turkey and Syria to aid with the earthquake response is now up to $185 million.
