Late Monday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border, causing panic and further damage to buildings two weeks after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history killed tens of thousands.
According to two reporters, the tremors were strong and long-lasting, damaging buildings and leaving dust in the night air in central Antakya. According to reports, it was also felt in Egypt and Lebanon.
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the tremor occurred at a shallow depth of 2 km (1.2 miles).
Antakya was patrolled by police, while ambulances rushed to the quake-damaged area near the city centre. Two people passed out, and others crowded the streets around Central Park, calling 911 on their cell phones.
Reporters saw Turkish rescue teams running around on foot after the latest quake to check on residents, most of whom were living in temporary tents after the tremors two weeks ago.
Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet,” she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.
People react after a quake in Antakya in Hatay province, Turkey “Is there going to be another aftershock?” she asked.
The two larger earthquakes that hit on Feb. 6, which also rocked neighbouring Syria, left more than a million homeless and killed far more than the latest official tally of 46,000 people in both countries.
Smaller tremors have jolted the region in the last two weeks but the Monday quake was the largest since Feb. 6.
“It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places,” said Burhan Abdelrahman, who was walking out of his tent in a camp in Antakya city centre when the earthquake struck.
“I called relatives in Syria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them.”
Turkey’s disaster agency AFAD urged residents to stay away from the Mediterranean coast over a possible 50-centimetre rise in waters due to the quake.
Videos posted on social media, unverified by reporters, showed passengers at Antakya airport taking cover in panic as the quake jolted the glass building.
