A 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Monday rocked Turkey’s southern province of Hatay and northern Syria, killing three people and sparking fresh panic after a February 6 tremor that left nearly 45,000 dead in both countries.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and 213 were taken to hospital, while in Syria White Helmets said more than 130 people were injured and that some already damaged buildings had collapsed.
Monday’s quake hit the Turkish town of Defne at 8:04 pm (1704 GMT) and was strongly felt by AFP teams in Antakya city and Adana province, 200 kilometres (300 miles) to the north.
AFP teams also felt the tremor in Lebanon.
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Turkey’s disaster management agency said on Twitter another 5.8-magnitude quake followed three minutes later and its epicentre was Samandag district in Hatay.
The agency recorded two more tremors of 5.2-magnitude around 20 minutes after the first on Monday.
Images from DHA news agency showed a hospital in Antakya being evacuated while NTV broadcaster reported another hospital was evacuated in the city of Iskenderun.
DHA said patients in intensive care unit were taken to field hospitals by ambulance to continue their treatment.
Soylu said rescue workers were trying to find people trapped under rubble.
‘Earth opening up’
An AFP journalist reported scenes of panic in Antakya, adding that the new tremors raised clouds of dust in the devastated city. The walls of badly damaged buildings crumbled while several people, apparently injured, called for help.
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