25 February 2023 , 12:19
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Turkey has been hit by another strong earthquake while still reeling from the disaster that killed 50,000.
A 5.5-magnitude quake hit central Turkey today at a depth of 7km in Niğde, in Turkey's Bor district.
Tremors were felt throughout the area, with residents piling on to the streets to wait out the shake away from the dangers of the buildings around them.
Orhan Tatar, General Manager of AFAD Earthquake and Risk Reduction, said that the 5.3 magnitude earthquake was a singular tremor and warned locals not to enter damaged buildings.
The country is still trying to catch its breath after a series of disastrous quakes killed tens of thousands and made many more homeless.
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173,000 buildings were crushed in the earth-shattering quake on February 6 (AFP via Getty Images)The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre announced the news today, just days after another hit Turkey's Hatay on Thursday.
Today's rumble comes less than three weeks after the magnitude 7.8 quake struck, killing more than 47,000 people in Turkey and Syria - the vast majority in Turkey.
Turkish authorities say some 173,000 buildings, containing around 534,000 apartments or other units, either collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 quake and other strong tremors likely linked to it.
Mesut Hancer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, before she died in the earthquake in Kahramanmaras (AFP via Getty Images)Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to reconstruct homes within the year, although critics have warned that moving too fast could just lead to the erection of more sub-standard homes.
Experts say many of the toppled structures were built with inferior materials and methods, and often did not comply with government standards.
On Friday, the United Nations Children's Fund said more than a million people were staying in temporary accommodation, including gyms, stadiums, hotel and dormitories, with limited access to essential services.
Rescuers stand on top of the rubble of collapsed buldings in Gaziantep, close to the quake's epicentre (AFP via Getty Images)"The children and families who survived the earthquake now face homelessness, lack of food and water, and temperatures that regularly drop below freezing at night," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF's regional director for Europe and Central Asia.
Kurum, the urbanization minister, posted a video of excavators clearing terrain.
"All our effort is (geared toward) bringing homes to our citizens as soon as possible," he wrote. "We immediately got to work in areas where we have signed contracts and completed ground survey work."
An investigation is underway into the construction companies that built many of the homes that collapsed (AFP via Getty Images)Earlier on Friday, Erdogan issued a decree which among other things enables individuals, companies or organizations to build homes or offices and donate them to Kurum's ministry which would then give them to people who lost homes or businesses.
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Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said late Thursday that 583 contractors or other people suspected of responsibility over buildings that have collapsed were being investigated and 171 have been arrested.
During the earthquake, several incredible stories of human resilience emerged.
One newborn girl was born under the rubble of her family's home in Syria as the walls crumbled down around them.
Little Aya was brought into the world an orphan after the devastating tremors killed her parents and four siblings.
Found by rescuers still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord, medics nicknamed the miracle tot Aya – Arabic for "a sign from God".
And as footage of her rescue went viral, thousands offered to take her in.
Now, she has been discharged from hospital after being adopted by her paternal aunt and her husband – and named Afraa, after her late mother.