ANKARA: A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday, three weeks after a devastating quake that caused some already damaged buildings to collapse and killed at least one person. Yunus Sezer, head of the country’s disaster management agency AFAD, told reporters that more than 100 others were injured in the quake, which was centered in the town of Yeşiltar in Malatya province. More than two dozen buildings collapsed.
A father and daughter trapped under the rubble of a four-story building in Ysilert were rescued with injuries. The pair had entered the damaged building to collect goods.
Haberturk reported that elsewhere in Malatya, search-and-rescue teams were sifting through the rubble of two damaged buildings that had collapsed on top of some parked cars, trapping three people.
Malta was one of 11 Turkish provinces affected by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and parts of northern Syria on 6 February. That earthquake killed more than 48,000 people in both countries, as well as causing the collapse or severe damage of 185,000 buildings in Turkey.
The head of AFAD urged people not to enter damaged buildings, saying the danger from aftershocks would remain. Since February 6, more than 10,000 aftershocks have occurred in the area affected by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, fans of Turkish football team Beşiktaş threw toys onto the pitch during a match on Sunday to help children affected by the earthquake. Toys and winter clothing were thrown onto the stadium grounds to be donated to children in earthquake-affected areas.