A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the city of Antakya near the border with Syria, where massive quakes devastated both countries on 6 February.

The earlier quakes killed 44,000 people in Turkey and Syria and rendered thousands homeless.

Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency said the earthquake occurred at 20:04 local time at a depth of 10 km, followed by a 5.8 aftershock three minutes later and 31 subsequent aftershocks that were not as severe.

It’s thought the death toll has been relatively low this time because the earthquake struck in an area that was largely empty after it was badly hit by the 6 February quake.

Rescue crews tried to reach the worst-affected areas where many buildings had collapsed.

In Turkey, 294 people are said to have been injured, 18 seriously and 6 people have died while in Syria, some 470 injured people are said to have visited hospitals. Tremors were also reportedly felt in Egypt and Lebanon, but no injuries have been reported thus far.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $100m (£83m) in humanitarian aid on his visit to Turkey, saying that the US would help ‘for as long as it takes.’

Rescue operations provided by India also concluded, with teams returning home, as hopes of finding people alive faded.

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