New Delhi: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday (February 20, 2023), killing at least three people, and injuring over 200. The earthquake was centered in the town of Dafne, in Hatay province of Turkey, one of the most affected areas in Turkey. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on February 6. It fell at a depth of 10 km and was felt as far as Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt.
“I felt the earth burst from under my feet,” said a resident of the Turkish city of Antakya.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said three people were killed and more than 200 were injured.
In Syria, several people were injured after jumping from buildings or falling debris in Jindris, one of the towns worst hit by the February 6 earthquake.
Several damaged and abandoned buildings also collapsed in Syria’s northwest.
Earlier on Monday, the death toll from the earthquake two weeks ago in Turkey rose to 41,156, and was expected to rise further, with 385,000 apartments destroyed or severely damaged in 11 quake-hit Turkish provinces. were gone and many people are still missing. More than 5,000 people were killed in Syria due to a powerful earthquake on 6 February.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Hatay on Monday and said his government would begin construction of some 200,000 new homes in the quake-ravaged area early next month.
Erdogan said that about 1.6 million people are currently being held in temporary shelters.
He said the new buildings would be no more than three or four storeys high, would be constructed on firm ground and to high standards and in consultation with professors and other experts in geophysics, geotechnical, geology and seismology.
The Turkish leader also pointed out that destroyed cultural monuments would be rebuilt according to their ‘historical and cultural texture’.