New earthquake rocks southern Turkey

WORLD, Feb. 20 (YPA) – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border late on Monday. The tremors were felt by the residents of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and the Antakya region in southern Turkey an hour ago.

The Seismic Monitoring Center in Syria reported an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale in the Iskenderun district at 20:04 local time.

Meanwhile, a new magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Turkeye’s Hatay province, the country’s disaster management agency has said.

The quake centred in the Defne district of the province recorded at 1704GMT (2004 local time), the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said.

Three aftershocks of magnitude 5.8, 3.9 and 4.5 centred at the Samandag area followed the initial tremor, AFAD said.

According to eyewitnesses, a number of buildings collapsed in northern Syria and southern Turkey as a result of the new earthquake.

Turkish media announced new damage after the recent earthquake in the region, and the sound of building collapse was heard in the Turkish city of Antakya, and it also reported a complete power outage in Hatay province as a result of the earthquake.

E.M