By Ali Kucukgocmen and Henriette Chacar

ANTAKYA, Turkey (Reuters) -Six folks have been killed within the newest earthquake to strike the border area of Turkey and Syria, authorities reported on Tuesday, two weeks after a bigger one killed greater than 47,000 folks and broken or destroyed lots of of 1000’s of properties.

Monday’s quake, this time with a magnitude of 6.4, was centred close to the southern Turkish metropolis of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.

Turkey’s Catastrophe and Emergency Administration Authority (AFAD) stated there had been 90 aftershocks. Six thousand tents have been despatched to the realm in a single day for residents alarmed by the brand new quake.

The Hatay provincial governor’s constructing, already broken within the Feb. 6 quakes, collapsed within the newest tremor, tv footage confirmed.

Turkish Well being Minister Fahrettin Koca stated 294 folks had been injured, with 18 severely damage and transported to hospitals in Adana and Dortyol.

Sufferers have been evacuated from some well being services that had remained in operation after the large tremors two weeks in the past, as cracks had emerged within the buildings, Koca stated on Twitter.

In Samandag, the place AFAD had reported one individual lifeless on Monday, residents stated extra buildings had collapsed, however that a lot of the city had already fled after the preliminary earthquakes. Mounds of particles and discarded furnishings lined the darkish, deserted streets.

Muna Al Omar stated she had been in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the bottom began heaving once more.

“I believed the earth was going to separate open beneath my ft,” she stated on Monday, crying as she held her 7-year-old son.

U.S. HELP

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on a go to to Turkey on Monday that Washington would assist “for so long as it takes” as rescue operations within the wake of the Feb. 6 quake wound down, and the main target turned to shelter and reconstruction work.

The demise toll from the Feb. 6 quakes rose to 41,156 in Turkey, AFAD stated on Monday, and was anticipated to climb additional, with 385,000 flats identified to have been destroyed or severely broken and many individuals nonetheless lacking.

President Tayyip Erdogan stated building work on almost 200,000 flats in 11 provinces of Turkey would start subsequent month.

Complete U.S. humanitarian help to help the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria has reached $185 million, the U.S. State Division stated.

Among the many survivors of the earthquakes are about 226,000 pregnant ladies in Turkey and 130,000 in Syria ladies who urgently want entry to well being providers, the U.N. sexual and reproductive well being company has stated.

Round 39,000 are resulting from ship within the subsequent month, and plenty of are sheltering in camps or uncovered to freezing temperatures and struggling to get meals or clear water.

SYRIA AID

In Syria, already shattered by greater than a decade of civil battle, most deaths have been within the northwest, the place the United Nations stated 4,525 folks have been killed. The realm is managed by insurgents at battle with President Bashar al-Assad, complicating help efforts.

Syrian officers say 1,414 folks have been killed in areas beneath authorities management.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) stated a convoy of 14 of its vans had entered northwestern Syria from Turkey on Sunday to help in rescue operations.

The World Meals Programme has additionally been pressuring authorities in that area to cease blocking entry for help from Syrian government-controlled areas.

As of Monday morning, 197 vans loaded with U.N. humanitarian help had entered northwest Syria via two border crossings, a spokesperson for the U.N. Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated.

Hundreds of Syrian refugees in Turkey have returned to their properties in northwest Syria to contact kinfolk caught up within the catastrophe.

On the Turkish Cilvegozu border crossing, lots of of Syrians lined up beginning early on Monday to cross.

Mustafa Hannan, who dropped off his pregnant spouse and 3-year-old son, stated he noticed about 350 folks ready.

The 27-year-old automotive electrician stated his household was leaving for a couple of months after their residence in Antakya collapsed, taking over a pledge by authorities permitting them to spend as much as six months in Syria with out dropping the prospect to return to Turkey.

“I am anxious they will not be allowed again,” he stated. “We have already been separated from our nation. Are we going to be separated from our households now too? If I rebuild right here however they cannot return, my life will probably be misplaced.”