One dead, over 60 injured as fresh earthquake hits Turkiye

ISTANBUL – A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkiye on Monday, leaving one dead and injuring over five dozen people while flattening several buildings damaged in Feb 6’s deadly quake.

AFAD, the government’s disaster management agency, said the epicentre of the tremor was the Yesilyurt district in the Malatya province, which was also hit earlier this month, killing thousands in Turkiye and neighbouring Syria.

AFAD chief Yunus Sezer confirmed that one man was killed while 69 others injured in the fresh earthquake. It said 29 buildings already damaged by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake had collapsed.

Two earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.6 on the Richter scale took place in Pazarcık and Elbistan, Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023. A total of 9,136 aftershocks occurred.

According to information available on AFAD website, 44, 218 people have lost their lives in Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis and Malatya and Elazığ.

528,146 people have been evacuated from Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Elazığ.

239,977 search and rescue workers from AFAD, Pakistan and other countries took part in the relief activities.

Last week, authorities in Turkiye arrested 171 people while 77 others faced detention as an investigation related to violation of buildings is being conducted after thousands flattened during devastating earthquake.

Turkiye Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag confirmed the development to media, vowing that everyone involved in violations will be held accountable and they will be punished. He also called for tougher punishments for those involved in violating the building rules.

Meanwhile, Turkiye has rolled out rebuilding regulations for the earthquake-hit region to enable companies or charities to help government in reconstruction of building new homes for the millions who lost their houses in deadly seismic activity on Feb 6.

Turkiye makes arrests, issues rebuilding rules after deadly earthquake