Turkey’s fresh earthquake leaves rubble in ruins

Rescuers are searching again for people trapped in the rubble after two fresh earthquakes struck Turkey, killing at least three people.

Magnitude tremors of 6.4 and 5.8 occurred in the southeast near the border with Syria, where massive earthquakes devastated both countries on February 6.

Previous earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have killed 44,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.

Buildings weakened by the quake collapsed in both countries on Monday.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Agency said a 6.4 quake struck at 20:04 local time (17:04 GMT), followed three minutes later by a 5.8 quake.

The three deaths occurred in Antakya, Defne and Samandak, Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said, urging people not to enter dangerous buildings.

Mr Soylu said 213 people were injured.

Reports from the city of Antakya spoke of fear and panic on the streets as ambulances and rescue teams tried to reach the worst-hit areas where walls of badly damaged buildings had collapsed.

“I thought the earth would split under my feet,” local resident Muna al-Omar told Reuters news agency, as she cried holding her seven-year-old son. She was in a tent in a park in the city center when the new earthquake struck.

Ali Maslam, 18, told AFP news agency that he was searching for the bodies of family members from previous quakes when the latest quakes hit.

“You don’t know what to do … We held each other and in front of us, the walls started to fall,” he said.

In Syria, 470 people were reportedly hospitalized after Monday’s tremors, which were also felt in Egypt and Lebanon.

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