Fresh magnitude 5 quake hits Turkey; overall death toll tops 47,000

Survivors of the earthquake that jolted Turkey and Syria 16 days ago, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving hundreds of thousands of others homeless, dealt with more trauma and loss Tuesday after another deadly quake and aftershocks rocked the region.

Ankara:A magnitude 5 earthquake struck the southern Turkish province of Hatay bordering Syria, the country's disaster agency said. The quake, which occurred on Thursday evening at 6:53 p.m. local time with a depth of 9.76 km, was centered in the province's Defne district, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority.

No casualties-No new casualties were reported yet, Xinhua news agency reported. Hatay was first hit by twin massive quakes on February 6, followed by another two on Tuesday night. The Defne district was the epicentre of the first magnitude-6.4 quake on Tuesday. On February 6, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Turkey's southern province of Kahramanmaras at 4:17 a.m. local time, followed by a magnitude 7.6 one at 1.24 p.m. local time in the same province.

Death toll tops 47,000-The death toll from the massive earthquake continues to rise as more bodies are retrieved from the rubble of demolished buildings. Here’s a look at the key developments Thursday from the aftermath of the earthquake. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has raised the number of fatalities in Turkey from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake to 43,556. The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria now stands at 47,244.

In an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Wednesday, Soylu said teams were sifting through two buildings in hard-hit Hatay province in search of further bodies. Search operations elsewhere have come to an end, he said. Meanwhile, at least 164,000 buildings have either collapsed or are so damaged that they need to be demolished, said Murat Kurum, Turkey’s minister for the environment and urbanization.

Syrians shelter in tents, cars- The local civil defense in northwestern Syria, known locally as The White Helmets, said Thursday that thousands of children and tens of thousands of families have taken shelter in cars and tents “fearing they would face a repeat of the earthquake.” In government-held Syria, a first plane from Bahrain loaded with aid landed in Damascus.

The Gulf monarchy is among many Arab countries that in recent years have tried to thaw relations with President Bashar Assad, after shunning him in 2011 for his brutal crackdown on protesters. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two key U.S. allies in the region, have also delivered aid. (IANS, AP)