Three fatalities in new 6.4 M quake in Turkey's border province
An earthquake struck on Monday evening in Turkey's southern border province of Hatay, two weeks after the twin quakes on 6 February.
Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu said on late Monday that three fatalities have been reported so far, and 213 people have been injured.
Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas said in a live broadcast that some buildings in the city of Antioch and in the districts of Defne, Samandag and Altinozu have reportedly collapsed, and that there were people trapped under the rubble.
"Some apparently entered their houses thinking that it was safe, and some others to carry out things," he said.
The magnitude of the latest quake is 6.4 and its epicenter is Hatay's Samandag district, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said, also informing that it struck at 08:04 PM local time at a depth of 7.7 km.
Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management said the epicenter was the neighboring Defne district in Hatay.
Hatay'da 6,4 ve 5,8 büyüklüğünde 2 deprem meydana geldi https://t.co/SqXwBL9yly pic.twitter.com/jSiQVp7wEo
— ANADOLU AJANSI (@anadoluajansi) February 20, 2023
Turkish state news agency released a video of the instant the quake struck.
Hatay’ın Defne ilçesinde bugün saat 20.04’te 6.4 büyüklüğünde deprem meydana geldi. Dakikalar sonra meydana gelen ikinci depremin ise büyüklüğünün 5.8 olduğu açıklandı. Hatay Havalimanı'nda panik yaşandı.https://t.co/GJcZlcvYyT pic.twitter.com/mo13YfTl5y
— ANKA Haber Ajansı (@ankahabera) February 20, 2023
A video posted by ANKA news agency shows the state of panic in Hatay airport during the tremor.
41,156 fatalities and 105,505 injuries have been reported after the 7.7 M and 7.6 M quakes on 6 February. Their epicenters were in Maras province, some 175 km north of Hatay.
Turkish geoscientist Naci Gorur warned after 6 February that new quakes may be expected to strike in Hatay and Adana, saying:
"This fault line has branches into territories in Antakya and Adana. The unbroken fault line may consequently produce new tremors in that area."
Felt in Syria
The latest quake was felt in Syria, particularly in Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Afrin, Azaz, Jarabulus and Tell Abyad.
It caused damage in buildings and left over 40 people injured, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.