Monday, February 20, 2023 | 8:19 p.m.
A new earthquake of magnitude 6.4 shook the Turkish province of Hatay on Monday, one of the most affected by the earthquakes on February 6 that left at least 41,000 dead.
The tremor, with its epicenter in the Defne district, south of the city of Antioquia, was also felt in neighboring countries.
Authorities have warned people to stay away from the coast in Hatay province, as the water level could rise by half a meter after the new quake.
Defne City Council indicated that there was a power outage and the entire area is in darkness.
“There are collapsed buildings. People are horrified. There were no people in the collapsed buildings. I see collapsed buildings but I think there were no people inside,” Mustafa Ozçelik, president of the Hatay College of Architects, told HalkTV.
No data is yet available on possible new damage or casualties, but numerous reporters present in Antioquia reported that the tremor caused panic among the survivors staying in tents.
At least one already half-collapsed building collapsed entirely and debris from others damaged cars parked on the streets, NTV reported.
Ahmet Ovgun Ercan, a prestigious geophysicist from the Istanbul Technical University, assured the HalkTV station that this earthquake, which he estimated to last 17 seconds, is a normal phenomenon and anticipated that some already damaged buildings will have collapsed.
Lütfü SavaÅŸ, mayor of the town of Antakya, about 25 kilometers from the epicenter, said that several buildings collapsed with people inside.
