The earthquake, with its epicenter south of the city of Antaquia, struck at 8:04 p.m. (5:04 p.m. in Lisbon), according to data from the Kandilli Observatory in Istanbul, and was also felt in neighboring countries.
Turkish authorities warned the population to stay away from the coast in Hatay province because of the risk of the water level rising by half a meter after this new earthquake.
There are no data yet on possible further damage or casualties, but several reporters present in Antaquia reported that the quake caused panic among survivors living in tents, the Efe agency reported.
At least one half-collapsed building collapsed completely and debris from other infrastructure affected parked vehicles, Turkish channel NTV reported.
According to journalists from the France-Presse (AFP) agency, the earthquake was felt with great violence in Antaquia and Adana and caused panic among the population already badly affected by the recent tragedy, leaving large clouds of dust in the city in ruins.
Ahmet Ovgun Ercan, a prestigious geophysicist at Istanbul Technical University, assured the HalkTV channel that this earthquake, which is estimated to last 17 seconds, is a normal phenomenon and expected that some already damaged buildings would have collapsed.
Virtually no building in Antaquia is habitable since the February 6 earthquake, but teams of debris clearers may have been stranded by landslides.
In addition, many survivors have a habit of gathering around campfires in front of collapsed buildings to help identify bodies and may be at risk if a neighboring surviving building has collapsed.
“It was terrible, broken windows fell on us. Everyone panicked and left the shops. With the darkness you still can’t see what happened,” Ugur Sahin, a reporter for the BirGün newspaper, told Efe by phone.
The Turkish National Emergency Service (AFAD), which locates the earthquake’s epicenter in the Defne district of Antakya itself, reported a second aftershock, of magnitude 5.8, with the epicenter in Samandag.
More than 44,000 people died in Turkey and Syria after strong earthquakes on the 6th: the earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale – with the epicenter on Turkish territory – was followed by several aftershocks, one of which had a magnitude of 7.5 .
Source: DN
