Three people died, more than 200 were injured in a new earthquake in Turkey and Syria

ANKARA, Turkey – A new 6.4 earthquake on Monday killed three people and injured more than 200 in parts of Turkey that were devastated two weeks ago by a massive quake that killed tens of thousands. Officials said more buildings collapsed in Turkey and Syria, trapping residents and injuring several people.

The earthquake on Monday hit the town of Defne in Turkey’s Hatay province, one of the regions hardest hit by the February 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake. It was felt in Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and even Egypt, followed by a second earthquake of magnitude 5.8.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and 213 were injured. Search and rescue operations were carried out in three collapsed buildings, where five people are believed to have been trapped.

According to Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas, the new earthquake caused several buildings to collapse, leaving people trapped. He told the NTV channel that they could be people who returned to their homes or tried to take their furniture out of the damaged buildings.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said at least eight people have been hospitalized in Turkey. Syrian state news agency SANA reported that six people were injured in Aleppo by falling debris.

In Hatay, police search teams rescued one person who was trapped inside a three-story building and tried to find three more inside, HaberTurk TV reported.

The February 6 earthquake claimed the lives of nearly 45,000 people in both countries – the vast majority of them in Turkey, where more than 1.5 million people are in temporary shelters. Since then, Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks.

CONNECTED: The earthquake that destroyed Turkey in Syria created massive cracks on the surface of the Earth, photos show

HaberTurk journalists reporting from Hatay said Monday’s earthquake hit them hard and they held on to each other to keep from falling.

In the Turkish city of Adana, according to eyewitness Alejandro Malaver, people came out of their houses onto the streets, dragging blankets into their cars. Malaver said that everyone was really scared and that “no one wants to go back to their homes.”

The Syrian Opposition Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said several people were injured in rebel-held northwestern Syria after they jumped off buildings or were hit by falling debris in the city of Jinderis, one of the hardest hit cities. . earthquake on February 6th.

The White Helmets said that several damaged and abandoned buildings collapsed in northwestern Syria, but no one was injured.

In the Syrian city of Idlib, frightened residents prepared for bed in parks and other public spaces, while queues formed at gas stations for fuel as people tried to get as far away as possible from any buildings that might collapse.

The Syrian American Medical Society, which operates hospitals in northern Syria, said it has treated a number of patients, including a 7-year-old boy, who suffered heart attacks caused by fear after another earthquake.

Oktay said damage checks were being carried out in Khatai and urged citizens to stay away from damaged buildings and carefully follow the instructions of rescue teams.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Hatay earlier Monday and said his government would start construction on some 200,000 new homes in the quake-hit region as early as next month.

Erdogan said the new buildings would be no higher than three to four stories, built on a firmer foundation and to higher standards, and in consultation with “professors of geophysics, geotechnics, geology and seismology” and other experts.

The Turkish leader said that the destroyed cultural monuments will be restored in accordance with their “historical and cultural structure.”

Erdogan said about 1.6 million people are currently housed in temporary shelters.

Turkish Disaster Management Agency AFAD on Monday raised the number of confirmed deaths from the February 6 earthquake in Turkey to 41,156. This brings the total death toll in both Turkey and Syria to 44,844.

Search and rescue operations for survivors have been called off in most of the quake area, but AFAD chief Yunus Sezer said search teams are continuing their efforts in more than a dozen destroyed buildings, mostly in Hatay province.

Under the rubble, there was no sign that anyone was alive, as three members of the same family were removed from a collapsed building in Khatai on Saturday – a mother, father and a 12-year-old boy. The boy later died.

Authorities said more than 110,000 buildings in 11 earthquake-hit Turkish provinces were either destroyed or so badly damaged by the February 6 quake that they must be demolished.

The European Union Health Agency warned on Monday of the risk of disease outbreaks in the coming weeks. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said that “food and waterborne diseases, respiratory infections and vaccine-preventable infections pose a risk in the coming period that could trigger outbreaks, especially as survivors move into temporary shelters.”

“In the coming weeks, there is a high likelihood of a surge in cholera cases in the affected areas,” the report said, noting that authorities in northwestern Syria have reported thousands of cases since September last year, and a planned vaccination campaign has been delayed due to the pandemic. tremble