Turkey hit by two more powerful earthquakes two weeks after the disaster

Two earthquakes, one measuring 6.4 and the other 5.8, have recently struck Hatay in southern Turkey, alarming residents who remain in the area that was ravaged by twin earthquakes two weeks ago.

Less devastating than the 7.8 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that wreaked havoc in southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, the most recent quakes threaten to cause even more destruction in a region where many people have fled their destroyed homes for the safety of other towns and villages outside the quake zone.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the greater earthquake was just 2 km (1.2 miles) deep, which could have increased its impact on the ground. Its epicenter was close to the southern Turkish city of Antakya, and it was felt in Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt.

According to Turkey’s disaster management organization AFAD, the stronger quake’s epicentre occurred beneath the Defne district of Hatay, in a location where many people have complained about the government’s lackluster response to the earlier earthquakes.

Ata Koşar, who lost his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew when a nearby luxury apartment building collapsed during the earthquakes two weeks ago, said: “I was using our heater to try to stay warm, showing people what to do in case another earthquake happened. It was the first day we’d decided to stay in our house because it’s only one floor.

As I was still lying on the ground, there came another earthquake. We heard what appeared to be other buildings collapsing.

Hatay’s mayor, Lütfü Savaş, instantly expressed concern that the recent earthquakes had brought about additional damage throughout the province and might have resulted in additional human casualties in a region already struggling with some of Turkey’s greatest disasters. He stated that “several buildings were destroyed” and “some people are trapped under the rubble.”

At least eight people were hurt, according to Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay, while a sizable government hospital in the northern Hatay province city of Skenderun announced it was evacuating patients.

Antakya resident Muna al-Omar claimed to have been in a tent in a park when the 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck. “I feared that the ground would give way under my feet.”

Some who stayed in Hatay for two weeks after the initial quakes claimed that they did so out of a sense of helplessness or a fear of completely losing their homes.

According to AFAD, the death toll in Turkey from the quakes two weeks ago increased to 41,156 on Monday and was projected to rise further given that 385,000 apartments were either completely demolished or severely damaged, and numerous others are still unaccounted for. In Turkey and Syria, it is estimated that at least 47,000 people died.

The construction of roughly 200,000 dwellings in 11 earthquake-stricken counties of Turkey will start next month, according to Recep Tayyip Erdoan, the president of Turkey.