Authorities halted the mission to locate survivors in Hatay on Tuesday following days of intense aftershocks. The region bore the brunt of the February 6 earthquake sequence and faced a new tremor on Monday night that compounded the damage already seen in the weeks since the initial disaster.
That Monday night brought two significant shocks, a magnitude 6.4 event and a 5.8 aftershock, which toppled many buildings that were already compromised from the earlier quakes. The successive collapse of structures increased the risk for residents who remain in the affected zones and raises questions about the safety of remaining buildings.
Official reports from Anadolu Agency confirm that six residents lost their lives in these latest events. A total of 294 people were injured, 18 of them seriously, and were transported to medical facilities for treatment. The toll could have been higher, but authorities note that few people were living inside buildings in the most affected neighborhoods at the time of the tremors because many homes in the area have already been evacuated or abandoned since the initial earthquake.
For the moment, people continue to shelter outdoors in tents or prefabricated housing as authorities assess structural safety across the region. A further reminder of the ongoing danger came as a fresh earthquake and an aftershock struck approximately a dozen kilometres south of Antioquia, unsettling already unstable structures that seemed solid before the latest events. A Turkish news outlet, NTV, emphasized that no home can be deemed safe under current conditions.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted the wide scale of the damage on Tuesday, noting that thousands of buildings were destroyed or severely damaged and that nearly half a million homes or offices across eleven provinces were affected. Urban Planning Minister Murat Kurum added that more than one million buildings had been evaluated and found that roughly one in ten faced demolition or urgent reinforcement needs, a finding that reflects the deep and ongoing impact on housing stock and commercial facilities.
The most severely hit provinces, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay, showed alarming statistics: a large share of confirmed structures had collapsed or required immediate demolition. Hatay, a city with about 1.6 million residents and a diverse economy that includes agriculture, industry, crafts, and tourism, reported around 37,000 ruined buildings, making it the hardest hit area in the disaster zone.
Antioch, the provincial capital with a population near 400,000, faced a devastating blow to its local economy. Local business leaders described the short-term outlook as dire, with many enterprises unable to operate due to the breakdown of essential services and the disruption of supply chains. The head of the local chamber of commerce spoke to the news channel on this point, explaining that thousands of registered small businesses had been destroyed or severely damaged.
Survivors who managed to cling to their livelihoods faced tough choices, including migration in search of basic services and better opportunities. While some industrial estates on the hillsides at the outskirts of Antioquia withstood the tremors relatively well, workers and skilled personnel left the area in search of more stable ground and opportunities elsewhere. This departure threatens the continuity of industrial activity and the ability to restart economic life in the region.
In the current climate, local industries are scrambling to attract workers while weighing the risk that continued displacement could force many small businesses to shut down permanently if a stable workforce cannot be secured. The sense of urgency remains high as communities mobilize for reconstruction, while utility services recover gradually and authorities work to identify safer living and working environments for residents and business owners alike.