Traumatized residents grapple with earthquake

Stunned and struggling residents of Turkey and Syria are facing new trauma and obstacles following Monday’s 6.3 magnitude quake that shook the area devastated by earthquakes two weeks ago that killed nearly 45,000 people and toppled thousands of buildings

Turkey’s disaster management agency said six people were killed Monday and about 300 injured – 18 critically. In Syria, a woman and a girl died in the provinces of Hama and Tartus, pro- government media outlets said, and there were reports of people jumping from buildings to escape.

Monday’s quake damaged buildings that had survived the earlier quakes, displacing a fresh wave of people into the cold streets of Aleppo and Latakia.

“But the biggest damage it and all the other aftershocks are currently creating are not visible,” Jani Savolainen, a Damascus- based spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told USA TODAY. “The earthquake brought back the memories from the war, in addition to creating new traumas of losing family members, homes and belongings now for the earthquake.”

Other developments:

● Authorities had recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks between the earlier quakes and Monday’s temblors.

● The Syrian American Medical Society said it had treated a number of patients – including a 7- year- old boy – who suffered heart attacks brought on by fear following the latest quakes.

● Authorities had warned quake victims to not go into the remains of their homes, but people went back to retrieve what was left of their belongings. More than 1 million people were left homeless in Turkey alone by the earlier quakes.

Latest quakes trap people in homes in Turkey

The earthquake Monday struck at 8: 04 p. m. and was centered in the town of Defne in Turkey’s Hatay province. Hatay, which borders Syria and the Mediterranean Sea, was hit hard by the Feb. 6 quakes.

Monday’s quake was followed by a second, magnitude 5.8 earthquake and dozens of aftershocks. The temblors also shook parts of Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Egypt.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay says inspections were underway in Hatay. He urged residents to stay away from damaged buildings and to carefully follow rescue teams’ directions.