A new 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey on Monday afternoon, two weeks after the devastating earthquake that killed more than 41,000 people in the south-east of the country. According to an AFP journalist on the spot, the tremor raised large clouds of dust and caused a movement of panic.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 was recorded Monday evening in the Turkish province of Hatay (south), the most affected by the earthquake of February 6 which killed more than 41,000 people in Turkey, reported the Turkish relief agency Afad. The earthquake, whose epicenter was located in the locality of Defne, according to Afad, occurred at 8 p.m. and was very violently felt by AFP teams in Antakya and Adana, 200 km further north.
More than 6,000 replicas already recorded
According to an AFP journalist on the spot, the quake sparked panic among the already hard-hit population, and raised large clouds of dust in the ruined city. He saw and heard several sections of already badly damaged building walls crumble and several people, apparently injured, calling for help.
According to Afad, more than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and Syria. The area, located near a fault between several tectonic plates, is particularly exposed to seismic risks. “Each time a fault breaks, the risk of waterfalls cannot be excluded” explained to Europe 1 Pascal Bernard of the Paris globe institute on February 6.