8 dead in new Turkey-Syria quake
ANTAKYA (Reuters) – Eight people were killed in the latest earthquake to strike the border region of Turkey and Syria, authorities said yesterday, two weeks after a large temblor killed more than 47,000 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Monday’s quake of magIt was followed by 90 aftershocks, nitude 6.4 was centered near Turkey’s Disaster the Turkish city of Antakya and Emergency Management and was felt in Syria, Egypt Authority (AFAD) said, even and Lebanon. as rescue work from the initial earthquakes on Feb. 6 have been winding down.
“I thought the Earth was going to split open under my feet,” said Muna Al Omar, holding her seven-year-old son. She now lives in a tent in a park in Antakya after the first quakes forced her from her home.
The Hatay provincial governor’s building, damaged by the first quakes, collapsed in the latest temblor, television footage showed. Six thousand more tents were sent to the area overnight.
Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan’s government has faced criticism over what many Turks said was a slow emergency response to the first quake and over construction policies that meant thousands of apartment buildings crumbled on victims when disaster struck.
Erdogan, in power for two decades, faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May, although the disaster could prompt a delay.
Even before the quakes, opinion polls showed he was under pressure from a cost of living crisis, which could worsen as the disaster has disrupted agricultural production.
He has promised a swift reconstruction effort, although experts said it could be a recipe for another disaster if safety steps are sacrificed in the race to rebuild.