Second earthquake hits Turkiye again on Monday, raising death toll to over 900, also felt in Cyprus

A second earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck southeastern Turkey’s Kahramanmaras region on Monday, claiming the lives of at least 912 people and injuring 5,385 others, while tremors were also in nine other provinces in the country and Cyprus.

According to Turkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the second earthquake occurred at a depth of 7 km, AFAD said adding that the epicentre of the quake was Elbistan region of Kahramanmaras province. Earlier on Monday a major quake struck the same region, leading to hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

The new tremor was felt in Cyprus in a bout of seismic activity, a few hours after a deadly 7.9 tremor that killed more than 600 people in Turkey.

According to European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the earthquake had its epicentre 75 km southeast off Famagusta. Its magnitude was 4.6 on the Richter scale and it struck at 11:23 am, EMSC said.

The first earthquake of magnitude 7.7 quake struck 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) below the surface in Kahramanmaraş’s Pazarcık district at 4:17am on Monday, February, 6. The AFAD revised the magnitude of the earthquake from 7.4 to 7.7

Later, a 7.6-magnitude shallow earthquake struck southeast Türkiye at around 1:24pm on Monday, hours after the first quake.

A total of 2,786 search and rescue teams are on the disaster sites and the number is increasing every moment, Türkiye's Vice President Fuat Oktay said.

Some 10 members of the European Union have positively responded to Türkiye’s request for assistance.

The earthquake also rocked the neighboring provinces of Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, Adana, Adıyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay and Kilis and neighboring countries, including Syria and Lebanon.

After the 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş’s Pazarcık district, 66 aftershocks were experienced in the region, of which three quakes were of magnitude 6, 14 were over magnitude 5 and 34 were over magnitude 4, AFAD announced.

It was reported that the most severe damage and loss of life in the earthquake occurred in the Pazarcık, Elbistan and Türkoğlu districts of Kahramanmaraş.

According to initial information received from the governor’s office, 300 buildings collapsed across the city.

At least 84 people lost their lives, while 225 others sustained injuries in the province.

A total of 1,710 buildings collapsed in 10 provinces due to the massive earthquake, Vice President Fuat Okay announced.

In Gaziantep, at least 80 people were confirmed dead, and 600 others were injured.

At least 47 people lost their lives in Malatya, with 550 others injured. Some 300 buildings collapsed in the province as the powerful earthquake struck in the wee hours of the morning.

A hospital in Hatay’s İskenderun district collapsed due to the earthquake, Oktay reported.

A runway at Hatay Airport was severely damaged after the quake, while flights were immediately halted.

Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş provinces were also closed to civil flights.

Turkish Airlines (THY) announced that it scheduled additional flights to the earthquake zone.

As a result of the damage to the natural gas transmission line in Gaziantep, the natural gas flow was also stopped in Gaziantep, Hatay and Kahramanmaraş provinces.