The number of aftershocks following the two earthquakes that struck southern Turkey on Feb. 6 has reached over 6,000, an official from the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said on Sunday.
At least 41,020 people have been killed by the two strong earthquakes that jolted southern Turkey on Feb. 6. In Syria, at least 5,840 people have been killed.
“The number of aftershocks caused by the two earthquakes has reached 6,040. Among them, 1,628 aftershocks were measured as a magnitude of 3-4, 436 of them with a magnitude of 4-5, and 40 with a magnitude of 5-6. There was also a 6.6 magnitude quake,” Orhan Tatar, the general director of the earthquake and risk reduction at AFAD, said at a media briefing in southern Kahramanmaras province.
Warning of more aftershocks after the devastating earthquakes struck southern Türkiye, Tatar said: “Especially after earthquakes of this magnitude, aftershocks will continue for a longer period of time. Some of these aftershocks may have a magnitude 5 and above.”
As a result of the earthquakes, the earth’s crust moved by 7.3 meters (24 feet). That is a “very serious number. The quakes also unleashed a great deal of energy,” he added.
The impact of these earthquakes reached 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles) and caused damage in many provinces and districts, he said.
Addressing claims on social media of flashes of light in the sky resembling lightning bolts during the earthquakes, he said intense lightening during quakes is “quite normal.”
The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Elazig and Sanliurfa.
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