Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
22 February 2023 | 6:47 CAT

Image: TRT World

The new 6.4 magnitude earthquake and the 5.8 magnitude aftershock jolted southeastern Hatay province just weeks after two powerful quakes left tens of thousands dead and affected millions in the country’s 11 provinces.

At least six people were killed and 294 others wounded after another earthquake jolted Türkiye’s southeastern disaster management agency, AFAD, in a statement on Tuesday.

The scale of the disaster is massive and has collapsed many buildings, leaving the standing buildings heavily damaged with cracks in the walls and broken windows.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, a writer at TRT World based in Istanbul, Murat Sofuoglu, said there have been many movements, and people have relocated to other provinces.

“The streets are now completely empty and Hatay has become ghost town,” he adds.

Academic Ziyadin Cakir from Turkey’s Istanbul Technical University says there is no tool or scientific methodology to determine when earthquakes or aftershocks will end in the country.

“Aftershocks and other earthquakes like yesterday may not only occur in the same areas, but also take place elsewhere like in Malatya [in the north] where there are faults – on which stress increased from these massive earthquakes. Its a huge crisis and its not over yet,” he said from Istanbul.

Listen to the interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.