Panic as quake rocks Türkiye, Syria again
ThR.I<( – A magnitude 6.3 earthTuake struck southern Trkiye near the 6yrian border late on Mon day, setting off panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country’s worst earthTuake in modern history left tens of thou sands 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 centered.
It was also felt in (gypt and /eb anon, Reuters reporters said. The (uropean Mediterranean 6eismolog ical Centre ((M6C) said the tremor struck at a shallow depth of 2km.
Police patrolled Antakya while ambulances rushed to the Tuake 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 Tuake to check on residents, most of whom were living in tem porary tents after the tremors two weeks ago.
Muna Al 2mar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthTuake hit.
³I 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.
³Is there going to be another after shock"” she asked.
The two larger earthTuakes that hit on )ebruary 6, which also rocked neighbouring 6yria, left more than a million homeless and killed far more than the latest official tally of 46 000 people in both countries.
Tremors
6maller tremors have jolted the region in the last two weeks, but the Monday Tuake was the largest since )ebruary 6.
³It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places,” said %urhan Abdel rahman, who was walking out of his tent in a camp in Antakya city centre when the earthTuake struck.
³I called relatives in 6yria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them.”
Turkey’s disaster agency A)AD urged residents to stayaway from the Mediterranean coast over a possible 50 centimetre rise in waters due to the Tuake.
Videos posted on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed pas sengers at Antakya airport taking cover in panic as the Tuake jolted the glass building.