OSMANIYE: An earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.6 and depth of 6.15 km, shook southeast Turkiye on Monday, killing one person, injuring 110 and causing 29 buildings to collapse, Turkish authorities said, triggering frantic work to rescue several people believed trapped in rubble.

The epicentre of the tremor was the Yesilyurt district in the Malatya province, which was hit by the February 6 earthquake that killed around 50,000 people in Turkiye and thousands more in neighbouring Syria.

Yunus Sezer, head of Turkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) told a news conference that search and rescue teams had been deployed to five buildings.

There have been four fresh earthquakes in the region in the past three weeks, as well as 45 aftershocks with magnitudes between five and six, said AFAD’s general director of earthquake and risk reduction Orhan Tatar. “This is very extraordinary activity,” Tatar said.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023