A magnitude 5.6 earthquake has hit eastern Turkey, killing at least one person and wounding dozens while causing some damaged buildings to collapse.
Monday’s earthquake became the latest major tremor to rock southern Turkey as the region rebuilds from earlier massive quakes that killed more than 50,000 people across southern Turkey and northwest Syria.
The latest quake was centred in the town of Yesilyurt in Malatya province, the country’s disaster management agency (AFAD) said, adding that one person was killed when a factory collapsed in Kahramanmaras, the epicentre of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit the region on February 6, and 69 others were injured.
Yesilyurt’s Mayor Mehmet Cinar told HaberTurk television that a number of buildings in the town collapsed, including a four-storey building where a father and daughter were trapped.
Cinar said the pair had entered the damaged building to collect belongings.
AFAD said that 32 people were saved in Malatya after the latest tremor.
Television images showed the man being carried on a stretcher into an ambulance, while rescue teams were trying to make contact with his daughter inside the damaged building.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged the shortcomings of his government’s response to the February 6 earthquakes as he spoke at a news conference in Adiyaman, one of the provinces hardest hit by the disaster.
“In the first days, we were not able to conduct work as efficiently as we wanted to in Adiyaman, for reasons such as the destructive impact of the tremors, adverse weather and challenges due to the damaged infrastructure,” Erdogan said, asking for the understanding of Adiyaman residents on Monday.
Source:aljazeera.com
