On February 20th, a new earthquake shook parts of Turkey, people ran into the streets Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
From BZ/dpa
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s southeastern province of Hatay. This was announced by the earthquake control center Kandilli in Istanbul on Monday.
The epicenter was in the Samandag district. People ran into the streets in panic, as could be seen on television pictures. According to the broadcaster CNN Türk, the power went out in Hatay.
The earthquake was also felt in the surrounding provinces, in northern Syria and as far away as Lebanon. A resident near the Syrian city of Aleppo said the tremor was as strong as the one two weeks ago but did not last as long. “It scared people and made them run into the streets,” said the local resident, named Abdel Kafi.
In several places near the city of Aleppo, houses collapsed again, said a spokeswoman for the aid organization SAMS. Among them is the small town of Djindiris near the Turkish border, which was severely hit by the earthquake two weeks ago.
The quake came two weeks after a devastating earthquake hit the region. Early in the morning of February 6, a 7.7-magnitude tremor shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, followed hours later by a second severe 7.6-magnitude tremor.
In both cases, the epicenter was in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras. More than 47,000 people died in the quake, including at least more than 41,000 in Turkey.