Three dead, more than 340 injured as new powerful earthquake hits Turkey and Syria

SMA NEWS – AMMAN
A new powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported, two weeks after being hit by the worst earthquake in the countries’ modern history.

Turkey’s disaster response agency AFAD said the earthquake was centered around the town of Defne in, Hatay province, one of the worst hit areas by the previous quake. It also said that the 6.4 quake was followed by second 5.8 magnitude tremor.

Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu cited the interior minister as saying at least three people were killed, and 213 were wounded so far in the southern Hatay province, and that search and rescue efforts were at three sites in the most affected areas.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported six injured due to falling debris from buildings, and they were taken to the hospital in Aleppo. The Syrian opposition’s Civil Defense, the White Helmets, reported more than 130 people were injured in rebel-held northwest as debris and rubble fell from shaken buildings.

This new earthquake, which was felt in Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, comes after Turkey and Syria were hard hit by a 7.8 magnitude quake on February 6.

Both countries experienced widespread destruction of infrastructure, extremely high numbers of injured, over a million people left homeless, and a continuously increasing death toll of over 45,000 people.

The two countries were still reeling from the destruction wrought by the first earthquake, as the international community provided support which included rescue teams, humanitarian assistance in terms of essential supplies, medical equipment and volunteer staff, as well as tens of millions in aid packages from several countries.