A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Turkey-Syria border region, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) informed on Monday. Just after three minutes, another quake of magnitude 5.8 hit Turkey.
The first quake took place at a depth of 16.7 kilometres (10.4 miles), while the second one was at a depth of 7 km (4.3 mi). Tremors were also felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
The latest jolt has come weeks after the deadly three earthquakes in Turkey and Syria which has so far resulted in the death of over 41,000.
The casualties are expected to rise further, with 385,000 apartments known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.
According to AFAD, more than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the 7.8-magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria.
The fresh earthquake on Monday triggered panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country’s worst earthquake in modern history.
'Earth was going to split open'
Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.
“I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.
Turkey to build 200,000 new homes
Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would build almost 200,000 new homes in the country’s southeast region. The tragedy has left millions without homes.
The President said the new homes would be built away from fault lines, “closer to the mountains", which would “protect against problems that are caused by soft soil".
“We will start to move our citizens living in tents and container cities to their sturdy, safe and comfortable homes within a year," Erdogan added.
(With agency inputs)
