Southeast Turkey was again shaken by a strong earthquake on Saturday evening.
It is not yet known whether there is any damage or injuries.
After earthquakes
in
Turkey
and
Syria
: Turkish government calls on property owners to provide housing.
New earthquake
of
magnitude 5.3
in south-east
Turkey
- twelve days after the disaster
This
news ticker
on the catastrophic
earthquake
in
Turkey
and
Syria
is updated regularly.
Update from February 19, 7.41 a.m
.: The Turkish government is calling on property owners to provide housing for the earthquake victims.
Owners of vacant or unused apartments and houses can make their living space available either free of charge or at a low rent via a website specially set up for this purpose, as Vice President Fuat Oktay announced on state broadcaster TRT.
After earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: Turkish government calls on property owners to provide housing
A prerequisite for the charitable help is that the apartment is made available for at least three months.
According to Oktay, the local authorities should determine whether the apartments provided and the rents are reasonable.
When allocating apartments, people in need should be given priority, such as people with disabilities, the elderly or the chronically ill.
At the same time, Vice President Oktay warned against exploiting the helpless situation of those affected by the earthquake catastrophe by charging excessive rents.
He announced that such a practice would not be tolerated and that people would be held accountable accordingly.
New earthquake of magnitude 5.3 in south-east Turkey - twelve days after the disaster
First report from February 18, 2023
Istanbul – Twelve days after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, another strong tremor shook southeast Turkey on Saturday evening (February 18).
The earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 was registered at around 10:31 p.m. local time (20:31 CET) in the municipality of Göksun, the Kandilli earthquake monitor said in the evening via the short message service Twitter.
The USGS put the magnitude of the quake at 5.0.
The state news agency Anadolu reported a magnitude of 5.1, citing information from the civil protection agency Afad.
The municipality of Göksun is located in the province of Kahramanmaras, which was hit by the earthquake disaster in the Syrian-Turkish border area.
It was initially not known whether the quake on Saturday evening caused damage or whether people were injured.
+
The province of Kahramanmaras was already affected by the earthquake disaster twelve days ago.
© Hussein Malla/dpa
Twelve days after the disaster: 5.3 magnitude earthquake in south-east Turkey
Twelve days ago, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 shook southeast Turkey, followed hours later by a second severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6.
The number of confirmed deaths in Turkey and Syria is still rising - more than 46,000 deaths have been confirmed so far
(as of February 18)
.
In Turkey alone, the number of deaths has now risen to 40,642, according to the Afad civil protection agency.
In Syria, around 5,900 people have died in connection with the devastating earthquakes.
However, the number is only updated irregularly.
Tens of thousands were also injured, millions are affected by the effects of the violent tremors.
Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: reports of rescues even after 296 hours
Meanwhile, the reports of rescues from Turkey are still not coming to an end.
Helpers are said to have rescued three people, including a child, from the rubble of a collapsed house in Antakya.
They were buried for 296 hours, reported the state broadcaster TRT.
The report could not initially be independently verified.
However, the 12-year-old child did not survive despite medical treatment, the state news agency Anadolu said.
According to the information, the three people were a man, a woman and their child.
A video showed how the helpers brought the man and the woman to an ambulance on a stretcher and medics treated the child.
Earthquake in Turkey: Experts warn of aftershocks
Experts from the Turkish civil protection already said in the aftermath of the severe earthquake that they expect strong aftershocks.
So far, according to Afad, there have been more than 4,700 of them.
One expert even advised against rebuilding Turkish cities on the same spot.
"Sooner or later" more strong earthquakes would hit the region, said Prof. Dr.
Marco Bohnhoff from the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam of the German Press Agency.
According to experts, a severe earthquake is also “overdue” in Istanbul.
The current earthquakes are worrying citizens beyond the borders of Turkey and Syria.
Where in Europe are earthquakes still likely?
Concerns about a natural disaster are growing in the countries of the Balkans.
An earthquake happened in a holiday region in Croatia last Thursday (February 16) - the tremors were probably felt as far away as Bavaria.
(ph/dpa)
List of rubrics: © Hussein Malla/dpa
