ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday, three weeks after a catastrophic tremor devastated the region, collapsing some already damaged buildings and killing at least one person. authorities said.
More than 100 people were injured as a result of Monday’s quake, which was centered in the city of Yesilyurt in Malatya province, Yunus Sezer, head of the country’s disaster management agency AFAD, told reporters. More than two dozen buildings collapsed.
A father and daughter who were trapped under the ruins of a four-story building in Yesilyurt were rescued with injuries. They had entered the damaged building to collect their belongings.
Elsewhere in Malatya, search-and-rescue teams were combing through the rubble of two damaged buildings lying on top of some parked cars, HaberTurk reported. It was not clear if anyone was trapped under the rubble.
Malatya was one of 11 Turkish provinces affected by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.
That quake caused more than 48,000 deaths in both countries as well as the collapse or serious damage of 185,000 buildings in Turkey.
The AFAD chief urged people not to enter damaged buildings, saying strong aftershocks continued to pose a risk. More than 10,000 aftershocks have struck the region since February 6.
The World Bank said on Monday that it estimates the massive quake caused $34.2 billion in “direct damage”, an equivalent to 4% of the country’s GDP in 2021.
The cost of recovery and reconstruction could potentially be double, the World Bank said, adding that GDP losses would also add to the cost of the earthquake.
The World Bank also estimated that 1.25 million people had been temporarily made homeless.
Meanwhile, fans of the Turkish soccer team Besiktas threw stuffed toys onto the field during a match on Sunday to support children affected by the earthquake. Toys and winter clothing were dumped on the stadium grounds to be donated to children in earthquake-affected regions.
