Earthquake measuring 5.6 on Richter scale strikes Turkey in latest major aftershock | Turkey-Syria Earthquake News

DEVELOPING STORY,

Authorities say at least one person died in a factory collapse in a region still reeling from previous devastation.

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has struck eastern Turkey, killing at least one person and injuring dozens, while some damaged buildings collapsed.

Monday’s quake became the latest major tremor in southern Turkey as the region rebuilds from previous massive earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

The latest earthquake occurred in the Malatya province’s Yesilyurt city, the country’s disaster relief agency (AFAD) said, adding that one person was killed when a factory collapsed in Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of a magnitude-7 earthquake. .8 that hit the region on February 6 and 69 others were injured.

Yesilyurt mayor Mehmet Cinar told HaberTurk television that a number of buildings in the city collapsed, including a four-story building where a father and daughter were trapped.

Cinar said the pair entered the damaged building to collect belongings.

Television footage showed the man being carried on a stretcher into an ambulance as rescue teams tried to contact his daughter in the damaged building.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from Gazientap, said the quake was also felt by people living in temporary camps after being displaced by the earlier quakes.

“The earthquake was also felt here in the center of Gaziantep, right where those affected by the February 6 earthquakes now live in tents. It caused anxiety and fear again,” Bo said.

According to the United Nations, at least 1.5 million people in southern Turkey have become homeless and more than 500,000 homes need to be rebuilt.

Nearly 10,000 aftershocks have been reported since Feb. 6, according to AFAD.

Last week, Turkey said about 865,000 people lived in tents and 23,500 in container homes, while 376,000 lived in student rooms and public boarding houses outside the earthquake zone.

The latest quake comes days after Turkey began an operation to move people living in tents to container cities, with the first phase moving people to 15,000 containers.

Turkish authorities have expanded a criminal investigation into individuals responsible for buildings flattened by the deadly earthquake that left millions of people without homes.

The government has also been accused of lax security enforcement in the run-up to the earthquakes.

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