One killed, dozens injured as new 5.6-magnitude quake hits east Turkey
29 buildings already damaged by the powerful February 6 earthquake had collapsed, as per AFAD.
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This aerial view shows collapsed buildings during ongoing rescue operations in Kahramanmaraş, southeastern Turkey, on February 14, 2023, eight days after a 7,8-magnitude struck the country's southeast. (AFP)
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Monday, killing one person and injuring scores more while causing some damaged buildings to fall.
The center of the tremor was the Yesilyurt area in the Malatya province, which was devastated by the February 6 earthquake, that killed over 44,000 people in Turkey and thousands more in neighboring Syria.
"One citizen lost his life. Some 69 were injured," Yunus Sezer, Chairman of AFAD Disaster Agency, said in televised comments.
AFAD said in a tweet that 29 buildings already damaged by a powerful February 6 earthquake had collapsed.
"Our search and rescue teams were quickly dispatched to the region, and started to work," it added.
The local mayor, Mehmet Cinar, was quoted as saying by Turkish media that a father and his daughter were trapped after they entered a damaged building to get their belongings.
Television photos showed the guy being put into an ambulance on a stretcher, while rescue workers attempted to contact his daughter inside the destroyed building.
Turkish officials have broadened a criminal investigation into those responsible for structures destroyed by the catastrophic earthquake that left millions homeless.
After the February 6 earthquake, AFAD recorded around 10,000 aftershocks. According to local media sources, 173,000 buildings are believed to have been damaged.
Turkish media has slammed developers for using subpar materials and failing to follow building rules. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that he intends to restore 270,000 homes in the destroyed areas within a year.
