'Thought Earth Will Split Open': Citizens Terrified After Fresh Earthquake Hits Turkey, Syria

New Delhi: A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday (February 20, 2023) killing at least three people, and injuring more than 200. The earthquake was centered in the town of Defne, in Turkey's Hatay province, one the worst-hit regions in the magnitude 7.8 quake that hit on February 6. It struck at a depth of 10 km and was also felt in Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, and as far away as Egypt.

"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," a resident of the Turkish city of Antakya said. 

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that three people were killed and more than 200 injured.

In Syria, several people were injured after they jumped from buildings or when they were struck by falling debris in Jinderis, one of the towns worst affected by the February 6 earthquake.

Several damaged and abandoned buildings also collapsed in Syria's northwest.

Earlier on Monday, the death toll from the quakes two weeks ago rose to 41,156 in Turkey, and it was expected to climb further, with 3,85,000 apartments across 11 quake-hit Turkish provinces known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing. More than 5,000 people were also killed in Syria due to the powerful February 6 quake.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Hatay on Monday and said his government would begin constructing close to 2,00,000 new homes in the quake-devastated region as early as next month.

Erdogan said around 1.6 million people are currently being housed in temporary shelters.

He said that the new buildings will be no taller than three or four stories, built on firmer ground and to higher standards and in consultation with geophysics, geotechnical, geology, and seismology professors and other experts.

The Turkish leader also informed that destroyed cultural monuments would be rebuilt in accordance with their 'historic and cultural texture'.