According to media reports, 6 people were killed and many injured in an earthquake which struck the border region of Turkey & Syria on Monday. This comes just two weeks after a huge quake killed over 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon were all affected by Monday's earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.4 and was centered close to the city of Antakya in southern Turkey. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), it happened at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).
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.
According to Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soyly, five people were killed and more than 200 others stand injured. Rescue workers are in action trying to rescue people who have been trapped underneath the rubble. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said that the tremors extended all the way to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt.
A second 5.8-magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Hatay's Samandag district was reported three minutes later by Turkey's disaster management organization on Twitter. Another news agency, ‘SANA’ belonging to Syria stated that six people were injured in Aleppo from falling debris.
The mayor of Hatay further confirmed that a number of buildings had collapsed, trapping people inside. Hatay’s disaster management agency has urged people in the province to stay away from the coast. The quakes, it is expected, will cause the sea level to rise by 50cm (20 inches).
The area is still feeling the effects of two deadly earthquakes that occurred earlier this month as the new tremors occur. As rescue workers search through collapsed buildings, the dead toll, which currently exceeds 41,000 in Turkey and thousands more in neighboring Syria, is anticipated to keep climbing.
According to the NDRF chief, reached out, stating his concern and the NDRF’s willingness to help. “The earthquake that struck Turkey recently had a magnitude of 6.3. Although there hasn't been a request as of yet, the NDRF is ready for anything and is always willing to assist” Director-general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Atul Karwal, stated.
