Ankara (EFE).- At least six people have died in two new earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 5.8 registered last night in the Turkish province of Hatay, according to several local media reports on Tuesday.
For its part, the Ministry of Health has indicated that another 294 people have been injured, 18 of them in critical condition.
The main tremor occurred around 5:04 p.m. GMT in the district of Defne, south of the city of Antioquia, in the province of Hatay, one of the eleven that were devastated two weeks ago by two earthquakes that have caused the deaths of at least 41,000 people and injured more than 105,000.
The search for survivors of these two new earthquakes continue today in Defne and Samadang, where the second tremor had its epicenter, three minutes after the first, with a magnitude of 5.8.
In addition, the stability of several water reservoirs in the region is concerned, which had already suffered structural damage in the tremors on the 6th, although the Government has assured that, for the moment, there is no risk of collapse.
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The new tremors caused scenes of panic and the local authorities have requested the urgent shipment of tents, since the population does not want to return to their homes for fear of new building collapses.
The Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, already warned yesterday of the possibility that there are more people trapped in the ruins of the buildings that have now collapsed.
The mayor of the city of Samandag, Refik Eryilmaz, also assured the NTV station yesterday that several buildings had collapsed and that it is not known if there were people inside.
According to the alderman, it is possible that some residents had taken refuge from the intense cold in the remains of the buildings damaged in the earthquakes two weeks ago, and he desperately demanded the sending of tents to house the population.
Since the earthquake on the 6th, none of the buildings in Antioquia are still habitable, but there are debris removal work teams that may have been trapped by a collapse.
In addition, many survivors are in the habit of gathering around campfires in front of collapsed buildings to help identify bodies, and may be at risk if a neighboring building that is still standing collapses.
AFAD, Turkey’s emergency management agency, said yesterday that there have been several magnitude 4 aftershocks.