Syria’s new earthquake kills 3, wounds hundreds
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – In a provisional count by the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press, three people lost their lives and 339 others were injured in the new earthquake that hit different spots in Syria on Monday evening.
The three deaths were recorded in the government-held areas one each in Hama, Safita and the countryside of Tartus while the injuries were as follows: 124 in Latakia and Tartus, 43 in Aleppo and 12 in Hama.
The new earthquake came 15 days after the 7.8 magnitude devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northwest Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 50.000 people and injuring hundreds of thousands, in addition to leaving immense destruction in buildings, trapping thousands under the rubble in both countries.
Meanwhile, in the opposition-held areas in northwest Syria, the Monday earthquake injured more than 190 people from falling debris or trying to rescue themselves by jumping from buildings, according to Syria’s Civil Defense (White Helmet) that operates in the region.
The White Helmet recorded the injury of 150 people in the countryside of Idlib and 45 others in Aleppo countryside; however, no cases of people trapped under the rubble have been recorded.
Two inhabited cracked buildings and the minaret of a mosque collapsed in the town of Jindires west of Afrin in Aleppo countryside while balconies and walls in cracked buildings collapsed in different areas in the countryside of both Idlib and Aleppo, but no injury cases have been recorded.
Panic and fear prevailed among residents who rushed to open spaces and streets for fear of buildings’ collapse similar to what happened in Feb. 6 earthquakes.