At least six people have died in two new earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 5.8 that occurred last night in the Turkish province of Hatay, according to various local media reports on Tuesday, while the Ministry of Health has indicated that another 294 people have result injuries.
The main tremor occurred around 5:04 p.m. GMT in the Defne district, south of the city of Antioquia, in Hatay province, one of the 11 that were devastated two weeks ago by two earthquakes that had killed at least 41,000 people and injured more than 105,000.
The search for survivors of these two new earthquakes continue today in Defne and Samadang, where the second tremor had its epicenter, three minutes after the first, with a magnitude of 5.8.
The Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, pointed out that 18 of the 294 injured reported were in critical condition.
There is also concern about the stability of several water reservoirs in the region, which had already suffered structural damage in the tremors on the 6th, although the Government pointed out that there is no risk of collapse at the moment.
The new tremors caused scenes of panic and the local authorities have requested the urgent shipment of tents, since the population does not want to return to their homes for fear of new building collapses.
The Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, already warned yesterday of the possibility that there are more people trapped in the ruins of the buildings that have now collapsed.
The minister indicated that searches are being carried out for people trapped in three buildings that have collapsed
Refik Eryilmaz, mayor of Samandag, assured NTV yesterday that several buildings had collapsed and that it is not known if there were people inside.
He also said that it is possible that some residents had taken refuge from the intense cold in the remains of buildings damaged in the earthquakes two weeks ago, and desperately demanded the sending of tents to house the population.
Since the earthquake on the 6th, none of the buildings in Antioquia are still habitable, but there are debris removal work teams that may have been trapped by a collapse.
In addition, many survivors are in the habit of gathering around campfires in front of collapsed buildings to assist in the identification of bodies, and may be at risk if a neighboring surviving building collapses.
AFAD, Turkey's emergency management agency, said yesterday that there have been several magnitude 4 aftershocks.
Hatay province, where the new quakes have struck, is one of eleven that were devastated two weeks ago by magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes that demolished thousands of buildings, killing at least 41,000 people. and injured more than 105,000.
With the search for survivors almost complete, it is feared that there may still be tens of thousands of bodies in the rubble.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
