Panic as Turkey, Syria rocked again by 6.3M earthquake
Aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Hatay
Mon, February 20, 2023
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Henriette Chacar
ANTAKYA, Turkey (Reuters) -A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border late on Monday, setting off panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country's worst earthquake in modern history left tens of thousands dead.
Two Reuters reporters said the tremors were strong and lasting, damaging buildings and leaving dust in the night air in central Antakya city, where it was centred. It was also felt in Egypt and Lebanon, Reuters reporters said.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the tremor struck at a shallow depth of 2 km (1.2 miles).
Police patrolled Antakya while ambulances rushed to the quake-hit area near the city center. Two people fainted, while others filled the streets around the central park making emergency calls on cell phones.
Reuters saw Turkish rescue teams running around on foot after the latest quake to check on residents, most of whom were living in temporary tents after the tremors two weeks ago.
Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.
"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.
"Is there going to be another aftershock?" she asked.
The two larger earthquakes that hit on Feb. 6, which also rocked neighbouring Syria, left more than a million homeless and killed far more than the latest official tally of 46,000 people in both countries.
Smaller tremors have jolted the region in the last two weeks but the Monday quake was the largest since Feb. 6.
"It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places," said Burhan Abdelrahman, who was walking out of his tent in a camp in Antakya city centre when the earthquake struck.
"I called relatives in Syria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them."
Turkey's disaster agency AFAD urged residents to stay away from the Mediterranean coast over a possible 50-centimetre rise in waters due to the quake.
Videos posted on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed passengers at Antakya airport taking cover in panic as the quake jolted the glass building.
(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Alexander Smith and Jonathan Spicer)
Aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Hatay
Mon, February 20, 2023
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Henriette Chacar
ANTAKYA, Turkey (Reuters) -A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border late on Monday, setting off panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country's worst earthquake in modern history left tens of thousands dead.
Two Reuters reporters said the tremors were strong and lasting, damaging buildings and leaving dust in the night air in central Antakya city, where it was centred. It was also felt in Egypt and Lebanon, Reuters reporters said.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the tremor struck at a shallow depth of 2 km (1.2 miles).
Police patrolled Antakya while ambulances rushed to the quake-hit area near the city center. Two people fainted, while others filled the streets around the central park making emergency calls on cell phones.
Reuters saw Turkish rescue teams running around on foot after the latest quake to check on residents, most of whom were living in temporary tents after the tremors two weeks ago.
Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.
"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.
"Is there going to be another aftershock?" she asked.
The two larger earthquakes that hit on Feb. 6, which also rocked neighbouring Syria, left more than a million homeless and killed far more than the latest official tally of 46,000 people in both countries.
Smaller tremors have jolted the region in the last two weeks but the Monday quake was the largest since Feb. 6.
"It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places," said Burhan Abdelrahman, who was walking out of his tent in a camp in Antakya city centre when the earthquake struck.
"I called relatives in Syria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them."
Turkey's disaster agency AFAD urged residents to stay away from the Mediterranean coast over a possible 50-centimetre rise in waters due to the quake.
Videos posted on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed passengers at Antakya airport taking cover in panic as the quake jolted the glass building.
(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Alexander Smith and Jonathan Spicer)
By Reuters
ANTAKYA, Turkey – Six people were killed in the latest earthquake to strike the border region of Turkey and Syria, authorities reported on Tuesday, two weeks after a larger one killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Monday’s quake, this time with a magnitude of 6.4, was centered near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority said there had been 90 aftershocks. Six thousand tents were sent to the area overnight for residents alarmed by the new quake.
The Hatay provincial governor’s building, already damaged in the Feb. 6 quakes, collapsed in the latest tremor, television footage showed.
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 294 people had been injured, with 18 seriously hurt and transported to hospitals in Adana and Dortyol.
REUTERS
Patients were evacuated from some health facilities that had remained in operation after the massive tremors two weeks ago, as cracks had emerged in the buildings, Koca said on Twitter.
In Samandag, where AFAD had reported one person dead on Monday, residents said more buildings had collapsed, but that most of the town had already fled after the initial earthquakes. Mounds of debris and discarded furniture lined the dark, abandoned streets.
Muna Al Omar said she had been in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the ground started heaving again.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” she said on Monday, crying as she held her 7-year-old son.
Patients were evacuated from some health facilities that had remained in operation after the massive tremors two weeks ago, as cracks had emerged in the buildings, Koca said on Twitter.
In Samandag, where AFAD had reported one person dead on Monday, residents said more buildings had collapsed, but that most of the town had already fled after the initial earthquakes. Mounds of debris and discarded furniture lined the dark, abandoned streets.
Muna Al Omar said she had been in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the ground started heaving again.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” she said on Monday, crying as she held her 7-year-old son.
An elderly man reacts after a new 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Hatay, Turkey on Feb. 20, 2023.ERDEM SAHIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A destroyed apartment block is seen on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty Images
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A man walks down a street amid rubble from destroyed buildings on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty Images
Men sit and talk in front of destroyed properties in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Antakya, Hatay, Turkey, on Feb. 20, 2023.
U.S. HELP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Turkey on Monday that Washington would help “for as long as it takes” as rescue operations in the wake of the Feb. 6 quake wound down, and the focus turned to shelter and reconstruction work.
The death toll from the Feb. 6 quakes rose to 41,156 in Turkey, AFAD said on Monday, and was expected to climb further, with 385,000 apartments known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.
President Tayyip Erdogan said construction work on nearly 200,000 apartments in 11 provinces of Turkey would begin next month.
U.S. HELP
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Turkey on Monday that Washington would help “for as long as it takes” as rescue operations in the wake of the Feb. 6 quake wound down, and the focus turned to shelter and reconstruction work.
The death toll from the Feb. 6 quakes rose to 41,156 in Turkey, AFAD said on Monday, and was expected to climb further, with 385,000 apartments known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.
President Tayyip Erdogan said construction work on nearly 200,000 apartments in 11 provinces of Turkey would begin next month.
The bedroom is seen of a destroyed apartment on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty Images
Total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria has reached $185 million, the U.S. State Department said.
Among the survivors of the earthquakes are about 226,000 pregnant women in Turkey and 130,000 in Syria women who urgently need access to health services, the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency has said.
Around 39,000 are due to deliver in the next month, and many are sheltering in camps or exposed to freezing temperatures and struggling to get food or clean water.
SYRIA AID
In Syria, already shattered by more than a decade of civil war, most deaths have been in the northwest, where the United Nations said 4,525 people were killed. The area is controlled by insurgents at war with President Bashar al-Assad, complicating aid efforts.
Total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria has reached $185 million, the U.S. State Department said.
Among the survivors of the earthquakes are about 226,000 pregnant women in Turkey and 130,000 in Syria women who urgently need access to health services, the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency has said.
Around 39,000 are due to deliver in the next month, and many are sheltering in camps or exposed to freezing temperatures and struggling to get food or clean water.
SYRIA AID
In Syria, already shattered by more than a decade of civil war, most deaths have been in the northwest, where the United Nations said 4,525 people were killed. The area is controlled by insurgents at war with President Bashar al-Assad, complicating aid efforts.
Members of rescue teams work on a collapsed building after a new 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Hatay, Turkey on Feb. 20, 2023.ERDEM SAHIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Syrian officials say 1,414 people were killed in areas under government control.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said a convoy of 14 of its trucks had entered northwestern Syria from Turkey on Sunday to assist in rescue operations.
The World Food Program has also been pressuring authorities in that region to stop blocking access for aid from Syrian government-controlled areas.
A worker watches the digger as he stands on the rubble from destroyed buildings as she awaits the body of her relatives on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty Images
A man walks in front of rubble from destroyed buildings on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty Images
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A man holds his mobile phone near destroyed structures from a car in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, on Feb. 20, 2023.REUTERS
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As of Monday morning, 197 trucks loaded with U.N. humanitarian aid had entered northwest Syria through two border crossings, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
SEE ALSO
Turkish officials to largely end search for victims from earthquake as death toll tops 46K
Thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey have returned to their homes in northwest Syria to contact relatives caught up in the disaster.
At the Turkish Cilvegozu border crossing, hundreds of Syrians lined up starting early on Monday to cross.
Mustafa Hannan, who dropped off his pregnant wife and 3-year-old son, said he saw about 350 people waiting.
The 27-year-old car electrician said his family was leaving for a few months after their home in Antakya collapsed, taking up a pledge by authorities allowing them to spend up to six months in Syria without losing the chance to return to Turkey.
“I’m worried they won’t be allowed back,” he said. “We’ve already been separated from our nation. Are we going to be separated from our families now too? If I rebuild here but they can’t return, my life will be lost.”
Syrian officials say 1,414 people were killed in areas under government control.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said a convoy of 14 of its trucks had entered northwestern Syria from Turkey on Sunday to assist in rescue operations.
The World Food Program has also been pressuring authorities in that region to stop blocking access for aid from Syrian government-controlled areas.
A worker watches the digger as he stands on the rubble from destroyed buildings as she awaits the body of her relatives on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty ImagesA man walks in front of rubble from destroyed buildings on Feb. 20, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey.Getty ImagesAdvertisement
A man holds his mobile phone near destroyed structures from a car in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Antakya, Hatay province, Turkey, on Feb. 20, 2023.REUTERSAdvertisement
As of Monday morning, 197 trucks loaded with U.N. humanitarian aid had entered northwest Syria through two border crossings, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
SEE ALSO
Turkish officials to largely end search for victims from earthquake as death toll tops 46K
Thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey have returned to their homes in northwest Syria to contact relatives caught up in the disaster.
At the Turkish Cilvegozu border crossing, hundreds of Syrians lined up starting early on Monday to cross.
Mustafa Hannan, who dropped off his pregnant wife and 3-year-old son, said he saw about 350 people waiting.
The 27-year-old car electrician said his family was leaving for a few months after their home in Antakya collapsed, taking up a pledge by authorities allowing them to spend up to six months in Syria without losing the chance to return to Turkey.
“I’m worried they won’t be allowed back,” he said. “We’ve already been separated from our nation. Are we going to be separated from our families now too? If I rebuild here but they can’t return, my life will be lost.”
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