Space Industry and Business News
SHAKE AND BLOW
New quake hits Turkey and Syria, killing six
New quake hits Turkey and Syria, killing six
By Joris FIORITI
Antakya, Turkey (AFP) Feb 21, 2023

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey's southern province of Hatay and northern Syria on Monday evening, killing six people and sparking fresh panic after a massive February 6 tremor that left nearly 45,000 dead in both countries.

The AFAD disaster response agency reported the deaths as well as nearly 300 hospitalisations, while in Syria the White Helmets aid group said at least 150 people were injured in the Aleppo region.

Monday's quake hit the Turkish town of Defne at 8:04 pm (1704 GMT) and was strongly felt by AFP teams in the nearby city of Antakya. It was also felt in Lebanon.

Turkey's disaster management agency said on Twitter that a 5.8-magnitude quake followed three minutes later, with its epicentre in the Samandag district of Hatay province.

The agency recorded two more tremors with magnitudes of 5.2 around 20 minutes after the first on Monday.

Images from DHA news agency showed a hospital in Antakya being evacuated, while broadcaster NTV reported that a hospital was evacuated in the city of Iskenderun.

DHA said patients in an intensive care unit were taken by ambulance to field hospitals to continue their treatment.

Soylu said rescue workers were trying to find people trapped under rubble.

- 'Earth opening up' -

An AFP journalist reported scenes of panic in Antakya, with the new tremors raising clouds of dust in the devastated city.

The walls of badly damaged buildings crumbled while several people, apparently injured, called for help.

On a street in Antakya, Ali Mazlum, 18, told AFP: "We were with AFAD who were looking for the bodies of our family when the quake hit.

"You don't know what to do... we grabbed each other and right in front of us, the walls started to fall. It felt like the earth was opening up to swallow us up."

Mazlum, who has lived in Antakya for 12 years, was looking for the bodies of his sister and her family as well as his brother-in-law and his family.

- 'No longer safe' -

"The road moved like waves. The building moved back and forth, the cars moved left to right. It knocked me off my feet," said Mehmet Irmak, who works at a notary's office in Antakya.

"Hatay is no longer a safe place. We could hear a lot of buildings collapsing... We will wait for a new day, but I don't know what I'm going to do," added Irmak, who had been sleeping in his car for two weeks after the first quake.

The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) said five hospitals it supports in northwest Syria received several people who had sustained minor injuries, some when parts of damaged buildings fell on them.

In government-held areas of Syria, Aleppo hospitals also received panic-stricken residents, while six people were injured by falling rubble, the state news agency SANA said.

Al Razi hospital in Aleppo received 47 cases, state media reported.

"We rushed out, we don't know how we left. I was afraid that we would meet the same fate as those who died under the rubble," said Khadija Al Khalaf, a 45-year-old mother, in the rebel-held city of Azaz.

- Aftershocks -

According to AFAD, more than 6,200 aftershocks have been recorded since the 7.8-magnitude hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, leaving millions homeless.

Officials said after the quake that aftershocks would be felt for a year because of the force of the first tremor.

Officials have set the death tool from that quake at 41,156 people in Turkey and 3,688 in Syria, but experts say the number will rise as the rubble is cleared and rescue operations end.

Eleven provinces in Turkey were hit by the previous tremors and on Sunday, officials said rescue operations would continue in only two: Hatay and Kahramanmaras.

"My thoughts continue to be with the people of Turkiye and Syria, as they face the impact of new earthquakes striking the region this evening," wrote UN chief Antonio Guterres on Twitter.

UN teams there "are assessing the situation, and we stand ready to provide additional support as needed", he said.

Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, as he wrapped up a visit during which he pledged solidarity after the tremors.

The United States has contributed $185 million in assistance to Turkey and Syria.

burs-raz/leg/mtp/js/yad

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SHAKE AND BLOW
Turkey's deadly quake renews alarm for Istanbul
Istanbul (AFP) Feb 17, 2023
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed tens of thousands across Turkey's southeast has reignited fears of an even more catastrophic death toll if a long-feared one hits Istanbul. Seismologists warn that a massive earthquake is likely to strike Turkey's biggest city - officially home to 16 million people but estimated to hold up to 20 million - by 2030. The city lies on the northern edge of one of Turkey's main fault lines and is densely packed. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake with an epicentr ... read more

SHAKE AND BLOW
Astroscale wins Dstl funding for exploration of future Space-Based Space Domain Awareness missions

Space Station research announcement for advanced materials and manufacturing open now

Sidius Space reaches an agreement with a Dutch organization to Deploy Lasercom Mission

'Magic' solvent creates stronger thin films

SHAKE AND BLOW
Multi aircraft and naval ships showcase interoperability

SES, ThinKom and Hughes enable multi-orbit resilient connectivity for critical airborne missions

Comtech receives additional funding for US Army Communications

GIT becomes Iridium Certus Service Provider to DoD and other Government customers

SHAKE AND BLOW
SHAKE AND BLOW
China to employ BeiDou satellite-based augmentation system in railway survey

GEODNET offers centimeter precision and GNSS corrections for OEMS and Ag Sector

New Galileo service set to deliver 20 cm accuracy

HawkEye 360 to monitor GPS interference in support of the US Space Force

SHAKE AND BLOW
US reaffirms pledge to deliver jets to Turkey

Ukraine says it shot down Russian balloons

Lufthansa hit by major IT outage, flights cancelled

Beijing tells US to investigate balloons allegedly flown over China

SHAKE AND BLOW
Engineers discover a new way to control atomic nuclei as "qubits"

Quantum Australia: Hear global insiders map out next phase of the boom

Encoding breakthrough allows for solving wider set of applications using neutral-atom quantum computers

Tech firm ASML probes info leak in China

SHAKE AND BLOW
New space capability mapping tool unveiled at the 2023 Avalon Airshow

Umbra agrees to provide Maxar direct access to SAR Constellation

Ozone depletion leads to Antarctic upper-stratospheric warming in winter

New land creation on waterfronts increasing, study finds

SHAKE AND BLOW
Study finds watching TV is good for the planet

US railroad company ordered to pay for cleanup of toxic derailment

Kenya's Ruto urges accountability for world polluters

Donated clothing worsening Kenya's plastic pollution: report

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.