Latest developments in the aftermath of the Turkey, Syria quakes

There are reports of more collapsed buildings in Turkiye, Syria, after another 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Hatay province in Turkiye, which was devastated by a massive earthquake two weeks ago.

Syrian state news agency SANA reports that six people were injured by falling debris in Aleppo, while Hatay’s mayor says a number of buildings have collapsed and people are trapped inside. Turkiye’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said the new quake was centered around the city of Defne in Hatay province.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake followed. NTV Television said the quake brought down some damaged buildings, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. The quake was felt in Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 killed nearly 45,000 people in Turkiye and Syria. Since then, Turkish authorities have registered more than 6,000 aftershocks.

Here’s a look at the key developments on Monday after the quake:

TRAPPED PEOPLE LEAVE HOUSE OUT OF FEAR

According to Lutfu Savas, the mayor of Hatay, several buildings collapsed and people were trapped inside after the new 6.4 magnitude earthquake. Savas said those trapped are believed to be people who had either returned to their homes or were trying to move furniture from damaged homes.

In the Turkish city of Adana, eyewitness Alejandro Malaver said people were leaving their homes on the streets and carrying blankets into their cars. Malaver said that everyone is really scared and that “no one wants to go back into their homes.”

MORE INJURIES, BUILDINGS COLLAPSE

Syrian state-run news agency SANA has reported that six people in the northern city of Aleppo were injured and hospitalized as a result of falling debris detached from buildings by the new quake.

The Syrian opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, reports that several people in rebel-held north-west Syria have been injured after jumping from buildings or being hit by falling debris in the town of Jinderis, one of the hardest-hit towns by the February 6 earthquake.

The White Helmets added that several damaged and abandoned buildings in north-west Syria collapsed without anyone being injured.

The Syrian American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria, said it has treated a number of patients – including a 7-year-old boy – who suffered heart attacks caused by fear after the earthquake.

TURKS URGED TO STAY AWAY FROM DAMAGED BUILDINGS

Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said inspections for damage were underway in Hatay and urged citizens to stay away from damaged buildings and to carefully follow the instructions of rescue teams.

The civil protection agency AFAD meanwhile called on citizens to stay away from the coast as a precaution to avoid “the risk of sea level rise of up to 50 centimeters”.

PEOPLE FLEEING SYRIA

Some media in the Syrian regions of Idlib and Aleppo, which were hit hard by the new 6.4 magnitude earthquake, are reporting that some buildings have collapsed and that power and internet services have been cut in parts of the region.

The media said many people fled their homes and gathered in open spaces.

Meanwhile, the White Helmets issued a warning urging residents of the country’s rebel-held northwest to follow previously published guidelines regarding earthquakes and building evacuation.

DEATHS NEARING 45,000

Turkey’s civil protection agency AFAD has increased the confirmed death toll from the Turkiye earthquake to 41,156. This brings the total death toll in both Turkiye and Syria to 44,844.

Search and rescue operations for survivors have been halted in most areas of the quake, but AFAD chief Yunus Sezer told reporters search teams are stepping up their efforts in more than a dozen collapsed buildings — most of them in the hard-hit Hatay province.

There was no sign anyone was living under the rubble as three members of a family – a mother, a father and a 12-year-old boy – were rescued from a collapsed building in Hatay on Saturday. The boy later died.

EU VIEWS RISK OF DISEASE OUTBREAK

The European Union health authority has warned of the risk of disease outbreaks in the coming weeks.

The Center for Disease Prevention and Controls said that “food- and waterborne diseases, respiratory infections and vaccine-preventable infections pose a risk in the coming period that can potentially cause outbreaks, particularly as survivors move to makeshift shelters.”

“An increase in cholera cases in affected areas is a significant possibility in the coming weeks,” it said, noting that authorities in north-west Syria have reported thousands of cases of the disease since last September and a planned vaccination campaign due to the tremors .

ECDC also warned of viral infections such as hepatitis A, parasites and bacterial infections, all of which can be spread through poor hygiene conditions in shelters and camps.

SYRIA DEMANDS TEMPORARY HOUSING UNITS

Syrian Public Works and Housing Minister Suhail Abdul Latif said the Syrian government will secure 350 housing units for people displaced by the earthquake and called on “friendly countries” to send more.

“We will secure the affected people as far as we can, but after a while it is no longer possible to continue to place families in emergency shelters to maintain their health,” he said.

Housing was a pressing need in all of the earthquake-affected areas, as many families slept in makeshift tents or crowded into overcrowded schools and sports stadiums.

ERDOGAN SAYS RECONSTRUCTION TO START IN MARCH

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces elections in May or June, says his country will start building tens of thousands of new homes as early as next month.

Erdogan said the new buildings will be no higher than three or four stories, built on firmer ground and to higher standards and in consultation with “professors of geophysics, geotechnics, geology and seismology” and other experts.

“We want to avoid disasters… by moving our settlements from the flatlands to the (firmer) mountains as much as possible,” Erdogan said in a televised address during a visit to the hard-hit Hatay province.

The Turkish leader said destroyed cultural monuments would be rebuilt according to their “historical and cultural structure”.

Around 1.6 million people are currently being accommodated in emergency shelters, said Erdogan.

BLINKING PRAISES AMERICANS’ RESPONSE

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has praised American support after the earthquake.

Blinken said in Ankara that the US government responded to the disaster “within hours” and has so far sent hundreds of personnel and supplies. But he said even ordinary Americans had reacted to “heartbreaking” images from the earthquake zone.

“We have nearly $80 million in donations from the private sector in the United States, (from) individuals. When I visited the Turkish Embassy in Washington, I almost couldn’t walk through the front door because the boxes were piled high all over the driveway at the embassy,” Blinken said.

NATO SEND CONTAINER HOMES

According to NATO, a ship carrying 600 temporary container houses has left Italy and is expected to arrive in Turkiye next week.

The military alliance has pledged to send more than 1,000 containers that will serve as temporary housing for at least 4,000 people made homeless by the earthquake.

NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg, who visited the region devastated by the earthquake last week, spoke of the worst catastrophe in the history of the alliance.

According to the authorities, more than 110,000 buildings in 11 Turkish provinces affected by the quake were either destroyed or damaged so badly that they have to be demolished.