5.6-magnitude earthquake in Turkey kills 1, injures 69

Ankara, Feb 28 (IANS) One person was killed, while 69 others were injured after a 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Turkey, three weeks after the massive quakes that claimed more than 44,000 lives, the country’s disaster agency said.

The epicenter of the earthquake on Monday was located at the Yesilyurt district of Malatya province, which had already been struck by the powerful tremors on February 6, Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 25 buildings that had previously been damaged by the tremors earlier this month collapsed on Monday, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

On February 6, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey’s southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time (0117 GMT), followed by a magnitude 6.4 quake a few minutes later in the country’s southern province of Gaziantep and a magnitude 7.6 earthquake at 1:24 p.m. local time (1024 GMT) in the Kahramanmaras Province.

Another two earthquakes jolted Hatay province in southern Turkey on February 20, killing six people.

–IANS

int/sha