A pair of earthquakes measuring 6.4 and 5.8 in magnitude struck Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province Monday, two weeks after major tremors in the same area left tens of thousands of people dead.
(Bloomberg) — A pair of earthquakes measuring 6.4 and 5.8 in magnitude struck Turkey’s southeastern Hatay province Monday, two weeks after major tremors in the same area left tens of thousands of people dead.
Three people were killed and 213 taken to hospital after the quakes on Monday evening, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a televised statement, telling the public to stay away from damaged buildings. At least six people were injured in Syria, AP reported.
The fresh tremors come as the region is still reeling from two devastating earthquakes that struck earlier this month. The death toll, which already tops 41,000 in Turkey and thousands more in neighboring Syria, is expected to keep rising as emergency workers comb through collapsed buildings. Around 1.6 million people are currently housed in temporary shelters.
Electricity was still cut off on Monday, making it difficult for officials to assess the new damage at night, the mayor of the Defne district, Ibrahim Guzel, told local media operation Haberturk. Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas told TGRT TV that some buildings had collapsed and people were trapped under the rubble.
Frightened local residents were preparing to sleep in cars, the street and other public places, while Syrian doctors treated a number of patients for heart attacks brought on by fear, AP reported.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is preparing for national elections in May, has faced intense criticism since the earthquakes in early February. Opposition parties have attacked both the speed of the initial response and the country’s poor construction record. On Monday, Erdogan announced that Turkey will begin constructing about 200,000 homes as early as March in badly-hit areas.
(Updates throughout. An earlier version corrected the name of Hatay’s mayor.)
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