Injured and collapsed buildings in another earthquake in Turkey

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey’s Hatay province on Monday, which was devastated by a tremor two weeks ago and injured people were reported and other buildings collapsed. collapsed.

Syrian state news agency SANA reported that six people were injured in Aleppo by falling debris, while the mayor of Hatay reported that several buildings had collapsed, with people inside.

Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said the new quake was centered in the town of Defne in Hatay province and had an aftershock of magnitude 5.8. NTV television reported that the quake caused some damaged buildings to collapse, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Monday’s quake was also felt in Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on February 6 killed nearly 45,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since then.

Here’s a look at Monday’s highlights:

WOUNDED AND COLLAPSED BUILDINGS

Syrian news agency SANA reported that six people were injured and taken to hospital in the northern city of Aleppo as a result of falling debris that was thrown from buildings by the new tremor.

The White Helmets, a civilian aid group, reported that several people were injured in rebel-held northwest Syria after jumping from buildings or being hit by falling debris in the town of Jinderis, one of the hardest hit by the February 6 earthquake.

DEATH TOLL APPROACHES 45,000

Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD put the death toll from the earthquake in Turkey at 41,156. This brings the total death toll in Turkey and Syria to 44,844.

Search and rescue operations for survivors have been called off across much of the quake area, but AFAD chief Yunus Sezer told reporters that search teams were continuing their efforts in more than one dozen buildings collapsed, most in Hatay, the most affected province.

There has been no sign anyone has been pulled out alive since a family – mother, father and their 12-year-old son – were pulled from a collapsed building in Hatay on Saturday. The child later died.

RECONSTRUCTION WILL START IN MARCH

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces elections in May or June, said his country would start building tens of thousands of new homes from next month.

Erdogan said the new buildings would not exceed three or four stories, built on stronger ground and to higher standards.

“We want to avoid disasters (…) by moving our settlements from the lowlands to the (more solid) mountains as much as possible,” Erdogan said in a televised speech during a visit to Hatay province, the country. one of the hardest hit provinces.

He added that around 1.6 million people are currently housed in temporary shelters.

SEE RISK OF DISEASE

The European Union health agency has warned of the risk of outbreaks in the coming weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said “food and waterborne illnesses, respiratory infections, and vaccine-preventable infections are a risk in the coming period, with the potential to cause epidemics, especially when survivors move to temporary shelters.

The agency also warned of viral infections such as hepatitis A, parasites and bacterial infections that can be spread through harsh hygienic conditions in emergency camps.

SYRIA DEMANDS TEMPORARY HOUSING

Syrian Housing and Public Works Minister Suhail Abdul Latif said the Syrian government would secure 350 homes for those displaced by the quake and called on “friendly countries” to send more.

Shelter was a pressing need in all the quake-affected areas, with many families sleeping in makeshift tents or cramming into crowded schools and sports stadiums.

NATO SHIPS CONTAINERS HOME

NATO said a ship carrying 600 temporary containers had left Italy and was expected to arrive in Turkey next week.

The military alliance has pledged to send more than 1,000 containers which will serve as temporary shelter for at least 4,000 people left homeless by the quake.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who visited the quake-ravaged region last week, called it the worst disaster in the alliance’s history.

Authorities say more than 110,000 buildings in 11 earthquake-hit Turkish provinces have been destroyed or so badly damaged that they need to be demolished.