Aftershocks occurring every three minutes since Turkey's Feb 6 devastating earthquake

Aftershocks have been occurring every three minutes since the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes, Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) General Manager Orhan Tatar has said, stressing the country recorded a series of consecutive tremors in just 17 days which should normally take four months.

At least 43,556 people lost their lives in the earthquake that hit 11 southern provinces on Feb. 6.

Another 6.4 magnitude tremor that occurred in Hatay on Feb. 20 claimed six lives.

Since the first major 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6, a total of 8,550 aftershocks have occurred, Tatar said during his speech at the AFAD headquarters in the capital Ankara.

Considering this figure, the earthquakes which are recorded normally in four months occurred in just 17 days, he pointed out.

“This is a really big figure. When we think about the total number of earthquakes we record in about a year, we recorded the number of earthquakes that we should have been recorded in four months in about 17 days,” Tatar said.

He also noted that aftershocks have been occurring in the quake-hit region approximately every three minutes.

Reminding that most of these aftershocks are of a noticeable magnitude, Tatar pointed out that it is quite likely that an aftershock with a magnitude above 5 will still hit the region in the coming days.

“In this sense, it is extremely important for our citizens to stay away from damaged buildings,” he warned.

Reiterating that taking belongings from severely damaged buildings is prohibited in the provinces in the earthquake zone, Tatar stated that this rule must be strictly followed.

Tatar noted that there was also some damage in the districts of some cities other than the 11 provinces affected by the earthquake.

“We have received some information that there are some damaged buildings in several districts of [the Central Anatolian province of] Niğde, in [the eastern province of] Sivas’ Gürün district and in some of [the Central Anatolian province of] Kayseri’s districts that are close to the epicenter of the earthquakes,” he explained.

“On the one hand, damage assessment studies continue in these residential areas. The Gürün district of Sivas, where the damage detection study has been completed, is now evaluated as a ‘disaster zone,’” Tatar stated.

Expressing that there are also different risks, such as rockfalls that may occur as a result of earthquakes in disaster zones, Tatar said that people residing in risky districts and villages far from city centers are being evacuated.

It was estimated that nearly 20 million people were affected by the major earthquakes that occurred on Feb. 6.

While thousands of people were left homeless after the devastating earthquakes, many different solutions are being applied for temporary shelters in 11 provinces.