An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck the Dafna area in Hatay state, southern Turkey, this Monday evening, and led to a number of buildings cracking and 3 dead and 213 injured, according to Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu, in addition to about 470 wounded in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory human rights.
loud explosion
A loud explosion and the sound of buildings collapsing were heard in the city of Antakya in conjunction with the explosion. Disaster and emergency management teams, ambulance, police, and rescue teams moved to the vicinity of the area where the earthquake occurred.
Residents of Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine felt the earthquake, which was followed by a strong tremor of 5.8 on the Richter scale in the Samanyolu area in Hatay as well.
In Aleppo, correspondents reported that a number of individuals threw themselves out of windows and balconies after they were terrified, and dozens of them were injured.
Houses Destroyed
The guests of some hotels in the center of Hatay left for the streets after they felt a strong tremor, and some of the facades of the houses were destroyed.
Medics were seen removing some of the injured. Some people were trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings as a result of the earthquake and aftershock.
Strong earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş
The Disaster and Earthquake Administration in Turkey confirmed that the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.4 and occurred at exactly 20:04 local time (GMT 3), in Hatay Province, one of the ten states hit by two strong earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, with a force 7.7 and 7.6 led to the deaths of 41,156 people and the collapse of 118,000 buildings, with more than 800,000 buildings suffering varying degrees of damage.
A strong tremor occurred after the earthquake in the same area. Then 26 aftershocks were recorded.
Search and rescue work ended on Sunday evening, 14 days after the earthquake occurred, while rubble removal work continues and search and rescue teams continue their work on a very limited scale in Hatay and Kahramanmaras.
