A new earthquake of 6.4 degrees of magnitude shook this Monday the province of Hatay, in Turkey, one of the most affected by the earthquakes of February 6 that left at least 41 thousand dead.
The tremor, with its epicenter south of the city of Antioquia, occurred at 17:04 GMT (14:04 GMT), according to data from the Kandilli Observatory, in Istanbul, and was also felt in neighboring countries.
There is still no data available on possible further damage or casualties, but numerous reporters present in Antioquia reported that the tremor caused panic among survivors housed in tents.
At least one half-collapsed building collapsed completely and debris from other buildings damaged parked cars, according to broadcaster “NTV”.
Ahmet Ovgun Ercan, a geophysicist at the Technical University of Istanbul, told the broadcaster “HalkTV” that this earthquake, which he estimated lasted 17 seconds, is a normal phenomenon and anticipated that some already damaged buildings would have collapsed.
Since the earthquakes of the 6th, none of the buildings in Antioquia have been habitable, but there are teams working to remove debris that may have been trapped by a landslide.
Additionally, many survivors are in the habit of gathering around campfires in front of collapsed buildings to help identify bodies and may be at risk if a neighboring building has collapsed.
“It was terrible, broken windows fell on us. Everyone left the tents in a panic. With the darkness you still can’t see what happened,” Ugur Sahin, a reporter for the newspaper “BirGün”, told EFE by telephone.
The national emergency service AFAD, which located the epicenter of the earthquake in the neighborhood of Defne, in Antioquia itself, mentions an aftershock measuring 5.8 degrees with the epicenter in Samandag.
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