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Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
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Another Deadly Quake Rocks an
Already Ravaged Area of Turkey
Just two weeks after the deadliest earthquake in the country’s
modern history, a powerful shock hit southern Turkey, where
many people are still sleeping outdoors for fear of building
collapses.
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Members of a rescue team work on a collapsed building after a powerful earthquake in
Hatay province, Turkey, on Monday. Erdem Sahin/EPA, via Shutterstock
By Gulsin Harman, Safak Timur, Cora Engelbrecht and Ben Hubbard
Published Feb. 20, 2023 Updated Feb. 21, 2023, 12:43 a.m. ET
ISTANBUL — Just two weeks after the worst earthquake in more
than 80 years devastated much of southern Turkey and
northwestern Syria, another powerful temblor struck the same
region on Monday, once again collapsing buildings and claiming
lives, and sowing panic among millions of people already
traumatized by disaster.
The quake struck at 8:04 p.m. in Hatay, Turkey’s southernmost
province, and was measured at 6.4 magnitude by the EuropeanMediterranean Seismological Center and 6.3 by the U.S. Geological
Survey. It was centered in one of the areas hardest hit by the Feb. 6
quake and its aftershocks, which flattened thousands of buildings,
entombing victims in concrete and twisted metal, claimed at least
46,000 lives in Turkey and Syria, and left many more people
homeless.
“All of sudden, I felt like the earth had been pulled out under my
feet,” said Mehmet Ali Gumus, a lawyer in Samandag, a town on
the Mediterranean coast, very close to the epicenter. “Such a
strong quake, I don’t have words to describe it,” he said by
telephone. “I could not even walk straight to the door just one
meter away.”
At least three people were killed and 213 injured, said Turkey’s
interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, but local officials say more are
trapped in the rubble, their conditions unknown.
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In the opposition-held area of northwestern Syria, at least 150 were
injured, many of them trampled in a panicked rush to safety, but
there were no confirmed deaths, according to the White Helmets, a
civil defense group there.
A boy is taken to an ambulance after being injured in the earthquake in Hatay, on
Monday. Ugur Yildirim/DIA, via Associated Press
The 7.8-magnitude quake two weeks earlier was the strongest to
hit Turkey since 1939, and along with its thousands of aftershocks it
is the country’s deadliest seismic event in modern history. Since
then, many people across the region whose homes were still
standing have been sleeping in tents, shipping containers and
other makeshift shelters in frigid winter conditions, for fear that
their structures were unsafe — a fact that may have saved lives on
Monday as more buildings tumbled.
Turkish emergency workers had been winding down rescue
operations as hopes faded of finding more survivors in the ruins of
the earlier quake, only to be called on Monday to resume saving
lives.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
•
By Allison McCann
The disaster came hours after Antony J. Blinken, making his first
visit to Turkey as U.S. secretary of state, had declared, “The United
States is here to support you in your time of need, and we will be by
your side for as long as it takes to recover and rebuild.” After the
Feb. 6 earthquake, the United States sent search-and-rescue
teams, heavy equipment, $85 million in humanitarian aid and $80
million in private donations, and Mr. Blinken announced an
additional $100 million in aid.
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The epicenter of Monday’s shock was just 10 miles southwest of the
ancient city of Antakya, formerly known as Antioch, and even
closer to Samandag, both already ravaged by the earlier quake.
The epicenter was relatively shallow, just 10 miles underground,
which makes for more intense shaking at the surface. Local
officials said it felt just as powerful, if not more so, than the bigger
Feb. 6 quake centered more than 80 miles from Antakya.
“We felt it much stronger” than the Feb. 6 quake, the mayor of the
Defne district near Antakya, Ibrahim Guzel, told the broadcaster
NTV. “There is no electricity.”
“People are screaming for their lives,” he added, and there were
people trapped under the debris, as there were after the quake two
weeks ago.
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Powerful New Earthquake Hits Southern Turkey
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The 6.3-magnitude quake shook southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, causing
panic among some residents while others were trapped inside collapsed buildings.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
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Refik Eryilmaz, the mayor of Samandag, told the broadcaster Halk
TV, “the shelter problem is real,” and parents trying to survive with
children out in the cold are tempted to return to unsafe buildings.
“One can’t put a police officer in front of every building,” he said,
adding, “this could only be solved with more tents.”
Farther from the epicenter, in the city of Adana, people fled their
homes toting young children, pets, a few clothes and blankets, to
take shelter in gymnasiums, just as they did two weeks ago. “We
only went home six days ago,” said Ibrahim Oguz. “Our morale is
not great.”
Ulku Sahin said her daughter-in-law, who has cancer, was
scheduled to receive treatment on Tuesday, and “I don’t know how
she will be able to go inside.”
Turkish authorities warned people to stay away from damaged
structures that could yet collapse.
“I’m trembling. We are all traumatized,” said Asu Askit, the wife of
a hotel owner in the city of Adana. “I think I will stay in my car
tonight.”
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In Antakya on Monday. Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
Lutfu Savas, the mayor of Hatay province, told NTV,
“Unfortunately, we are receiving messages about people remaining
under buildings.” Some of the victims had returned to their homes,
either in hopes that they were solid or to retrieve belongings.
Many victims of the Feb. 6 earthquake lived in modern high-rise
apartment buildings they had believed were earthquake-safe, yet
collapsed. That has fueled widespread anger at officials and
contractors who skirted seismic building codes, prompting arrests
of some builders. Opposition politicians have cast blame on
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who already faced an uphill
battle for re-election in a contest scheduled to be held in May.
Experts say recovery will mean not just removing debris and
erecting new buildings, but reinforcing or tearing down those that
remain but are unsafe, and it could take a decade.
Gulsin Harman, Safak Timur and Ben Hubbard reported from Istanbul, and Cora
Engelbrecht from Adana, Turkey. Reporting was contributed by Nimet Kirac from Adana,
Hwaida Saad and Raja Abdulrahim from Beirut, Elif Ince from Istanbul and Carly Olson
from New York.
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