A new earthquake brings new losses to the population of Turkey and Syria

ISTANBUL (AP) — Survivors of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria 15 days ago, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing hundreds of thousands, dealt with more trauma and loss Tuesday after another deadly quake and aftershocks rocked the region.

The epicenter of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake, which hit Monday evening, was in the Defne region of the Turkish province of Hatay, which was one of the areas hardest hit by the February 6 earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale and claimed nearly 46,000 lives in the two countries.

Turkey’s Disaster Management Authority said the new earthquake killed six people and injured 294 others, including 18 in critical condition. Media outlets loyal to the Syrian government said that a woman and a girl died as a result of panic as a result of the earthquake that struck the governorates of Hama and Tartous.

Monday’s earthquake was felt in Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Egypt. This was followed by a 5.8-magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks. The White Helmets civil defense organization in northwest Syria said about 190 people were injured in rebel-held areas and several dilapidated buildings collapsed, but there were no reports of anyone being trapped under the rubble.

In Turkey, teacher Zuhair Kabar, 42, said he was mourning the loss of relatives in the original quake and having a meal with his aunt and uncle near the town of Hatay in Samandağ when they felt tremors on Monday.

He said, “I rocked a little bit, and then I fell asleep hard.” “The electricity went out and there was screaming everywhere. There were small children in the house. They were screaming, and my aunt was crying.”

On February 6, Kabar rushed to try to help his cousin, cousin’s wife, and the couple’s young sons from the rubble of their collapsed home, but did not survive.

“We barely got over the grief (from the first earthquake),” he said.

And while his extended family’s home withstood the earthquake earlier in the month, on Monday it was damaged. Kabar said they are too scared to sleep there and plan to stay in a big tent and in cars.

We’re trying to stay strong but it’s a terrifying process. The cities we knew, the memories we had, are destroyed.” When we go out into the streets, there are only rubble and heavy machinery. It’s like a horror movie scene.”

Turkish officials warned residents not to go to the ruins of their homes, but people did so to recover what they could. Three of the two dead were inside a damaged four-storey building when the new quake struck.

Turkish news agency DHA said aftershocks and instability of the structure complicated rescue efforts, and it took search crews several hours to find the bodies.

Dr. Tahsin Cinar, an anesthesiologist who uses vacation time to help provide medical care in Hatay as a representative of the Turkish Medical Association, said earthquake survivors need serious help with their mental health.

“They feel lonely, empty and very anxious. Even a small tremor triggers a very anxious reaction,” he said.

Cinar and other volunteers initially provided emergency care to people with physical injuries. Now, they see more signs of trauma, depression, and stress that come with the lack of safe housing, wintry weather, and hiatus in education.

“There is almost nothing to create social welfare,” he said.

The United Nations World Food Program said Monday’s earthquake terrified staff who were distributing food to hundreds of thousands of people in northwest Syria and Turkey. The program said employees were sleeping in their cars in freezing temperatures while still trying to go about their work.

Kamal Abu Hassan al-Saghir’s home in Jenderes, Syria, was damaged in the first earthquake, but after a few days he and his family returned. They ran out when an earthquake hit on Monday. The house has now partially collapsed into piles of rubble.

“Our house is in ruins,” Abu Hassan said, “but at least our children are fine.”

He pitched a tent right outside the house, afraid to go back inside.

We do not know when the next earthquake will happen. Where else are we supposed to go other than tents? ” He said.

Some 13.5 million people live in Turkey’s 11 quake-hit provinces, where authorities say more than 139,000 buildings are either destroyed or so badly damaged that they need to be demolished.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 865,000 people were living in tents as of Tuesday. About 270 tent cities were set up in the affected governorates, and the winter weather increased the suffering of the displaced citizens.

Umit Ozalp, who had lived for 40 years in Antakya, a now-ruined historic city, was preparing to leave, joining others with a few small suitcases at a bus stop.

“We have nothing left. Our home is our home, our children. We have lost our job. Our situation is painful,” Özalp told the IHA news agency.

Kenan Caglar, an employee of a bus company, said that the company transports no less than 2,000 passengers per day, most of them heading to Istanbul or the Mediterranean cities of Antalya and Mersin.

The majority of deaths in the massive Feb. 6 earthquake, which was followed by a magnitude 7.5 quake nine hours later, were in Turkey, where at least 42,310 people died, according to the disaster management agency.

The Turkish Minister of Defense said that about 20,000 Syrians living in Turkey have returned to Syria after the earthquakes.

“They are returning to their lands because they lost their homes and relatives,” Hulusi Akar said from Hatay on Tuesday.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Omar Elham contributed to Jenderes Syria.

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Follow AP earthquake coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/earthquakes

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