Another earthquake occurred in Hatay. According to the country’s disaster management agency, two strong aftershocks with magnitudes of 6.4 and 5.8 occurred within minutes.
The first 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurred at 20:04 local time (coinciding with Moscow) in Defne, with its epicenter at a depth of about 17 km. The second – at 20:07, near the city of Samandag, the epicenter was located at a depth of about 16.7 km. The European Seismological Center said the tremors were felt in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt, about 400 km from the epicenter.
Hatay is the southernmost province of Turkey, located on the Mediterranean coast and bordering Syria. It suffered more than the others in the previous earthquake on February 6 – Hatay accounts for more than half of the victims: 21 thousand of the 41 thousand people across the country died. About 10,000 buildings were destroyed in the province. There are almost no buildings left in Antakya, the capital of the region, and local officials reported that about 80% of the buildings in the city should be demolished.
After the earthquake that occurred on February 6, a great fire broke out in the port of the biggest city of Iskenderun, which could not be extinguished for days. Authorities in Hatay also warned that the surviving structures would not be able to withstand a new earthquake.
On the evening of February 20, after another shock, new demolition videos began to appear on Turkish social networks and media. Buildings that survived the previous earthquake in Hatai began to collapse, with facade elements falling out of them. Footage from Hatay Airport and other buildings shows people falling to the ground to avoid possible debris. Eyewitnesses spoke of swaying walls, swaying floors.
The earthquake was broadcast live on CNN Turk. Reporter Buse Deviren could not hold back her tears from fear. He was filming a story about people who became homeless after the February 6 earthquake. According to the journalist, heaters in tents for temporary accommodation returned from new shocks. Residents abandoned their tents and trees fell around. Later, the TV channel reported that the part of the bridge over the Asi River in the city of Defne, where the epicenter of the initial shock, collapsed.
Additionally, the tremors lifted a lot of dust from the collapsed buildings that literally dotted residential streets after the earthquake two weeks ago. This caused severely limited vision in the first minutes, difficulties in movement and led to several accidents. City residents fleeing the collapse of new buildings went out into the open spaces. The road to the field hospital in Defne was completely destroyed.
Turkish media reported that a woman died and eight people were injured in Samandag. There are four more people under the rubble. Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) urged the people of the province to stay away from the sea coast due to the risk of a half-meter rise in the water level.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay also warned citizens to stay away from buildings damaged after the 6 February earthquake, due to the risk of collapse. In Hatay, the electricity was completely cut off after the tremors.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Hatay a few hours before the new earthquake and promised to build 40 thousand new houses in the province. Then he went to Kahramanmaraş (the epicenter of the earthquake was there two weeks ago). According to Turkish publications, the head of state fell into the territory of new shocks and had to take shelter in a safe place.
There is also devastation from a recent earthquake in neighboring Syria. According to Al-Arabiya, numerous buildings collapsed in the cities of Al-Bab and Harim. The SANA agency reported that six people died in Aleppo – the wreckage of buildings fell on them, the injured were hospitalized.