New quake hits Turkey, toppling more buildings: 1 killed

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook southern Turkey on Monday – three weeks after a catastrophic temblor devastated the region – causing some already damaged buildings to collapse and killing at least one person, the country’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said.

Another 69 people were injured as a result of the earthquake which was centred in the town of Yesilyurt in Malatya province, AFAD’s chief Yunus Sezer told reporters. More than two dozen buildings collapsed.

Yesilyurt’s mayor, Mehmet Cinar, told HaberTurk television that a father and daughter were trapped beneath the rubble of a four-storey building in the town. The pair had entered the damaged building to collect belongings.

Elsewhere in Malatya, search-and-rescue teams were sifting through the rubble of two damaged buildings that toppled on top of some parked cars, HaberTurk reported.

Malatya was among 11 Turkish provinces hit by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6.

That quake led to more than 48,000 deaths in both countries as well as the collapse or serious damage of 173,000 buildings in Turkey.

AFAD’s chief urged people not to enter damaged buildings saying strong aftershocks continue to pose a risk. Close to 10,000 aftershocks have hit the region affected by the quake since Feb. 6.