ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey on Monday, killing one person and injuring over 110 others, while also causing the collapse of already damaged buildings, the Turkish disaster agency said.
The latest quake struck the town of Yeilsyurt in eastern Malatya province at 12.04pm local time. Malatya had already been impacted by the February 6 earthquake which killed over 44,000 in Turkey.
One person was killed and 69 others were injured according to Yunus Sezer, the head of Turkey’s disaster agency AFAD. It added that 29 buildings had also collapsed as a result of the quake. The agency also said that 32 people have been rescued from the rubble.
Several hours after the quake, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a press conference in Adiyaman, asking for forgiveness for the slow response by authorities following the initial quake.
"Due to the devastating effect of the tremors and the terrible weather, we could not work with the efficiency we wanted in Adıyaman for the first few days. I want my people's forgiveness for this," he said.
“It was determined that some buildings were destroyed in the quake. Search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the disaster area,” AFAD said on Twitter.
The buildings had already been damaged in the initial earthquake. The disaster agency also called on locals to keep caution when around the damaged buildings.
Turkey’s justice minister on Saturday said that the government was expanding probes launched to investigate over 600 individuals involved in the construction of the buildings that collapsed. Bekir Bozdag announced that 184 suspects, including 79 construction contractors, have been arrested so far.
The wave of arrests comes in response to mass outrage in Turkey with people calling on those involved in the construction of the buildings that collapsed to be punished.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said that the destruction brought upon by the quake left an estimated 1.5 million people homeless.
