Turkey has been hit by another 5+ magnitude earthquake as massive twin quakes over 7.6 in magnitude the day prior collapsed entire buildings and led to over 5,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria.
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake was recorded at around 1:18 p.m. local time in eastern Turkey, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
The epicenter of the quake was around 18 miles southeast of Malatya, with a population of 441,000, where yesterday’s earthquake toppled buildings and left people trapped under rubble in freezing cold.
“Although we were far away, we felt the aftershock,” stated one of the testimonials shared with EMSC by a witness located in Peyas, around 90 miles from the epicenter.
“It was strong,” said another testimonial from someone in Idleb, Syria, located 184 miles from the epicenter.
Over 285 Aftershocks
Turkey has experienced over 285 aftershocks since two earthquakes hit the southeastern part of country near Syria’s border on Monday—one with a magnitude of 7.8 followed several hours later with 7.6 level quake.The number of dead and injured from both Turkey and Syria has increased rapidly throughout Monday, with the death toll estimated to be around 5,021.
Thousands more are injured, many trapped under rubble as rescue groups struggle to bring aid to the victims.
In Turkey, at least 3,419 people are confirmed dead.
In Syria, state news agency SANA reported at least 1,602 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the death toll could rise to around 20,000 in the coming days.
“We always see the same thing with earthquakes, unfortunately, which is that the initial reports of the numbers of people who have died or who have been injured will increase quite significantly in the week that follows,” the WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, told AFP.
Smallwood added that snowy conditions and freezing temperatures pose an added hazard, both to people left without shelter and those still trapped under rubble.
‘Like the Apocalypse’
Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck before sunrise, toppled entire buildings in Turkey and piled devastation on Syrians.“We were shaken like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two sons of mine are still in the rubble, I’m waiting for them,” a woman in Diyarbakir, in southeast Turkey, said as she stood next to the wreckage of the seven-story apartment building where she lived.
The earthquake was the biggest recorded worldwide by the U.S. Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.
“It was like the apocalypse,” Abdul Salam al-Mahmoud said in Atareb, Syria. “It’s bitterly cold and there’s heavy rain, and people need saving.”
Rescuers in the Turkish city of Iskenderun climbed an enormous pile of debris that was once part of a state hospital’s intensive care unit in search of survivors. Health workers did what they could to tend to the new rush of injured patients.
“We have a patient who was taken into surgery but we don’t know what happened,” said Tulin, a woman in her 30s standing outside the hospital.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called the incident a historic disaster and the worst earthquake to hit the country since 1939.
“Everyone is putting their heart and soul into efforts although the winter season, cold weather, and the earthquake happening during the night makes things more difficult,” he said.
The second earthquake was big enough to bring down more buildings and was felt across the region, endangering rescuers struggling to pull casualties from the rubble.
