Turkey experiences 5.6-magnitude earthquake: What travelers need to know

Barely three weeks after the devastating earthquake that destroyed southern Turkey and parts of Syria, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit the area again on Monday. Authorities said that the tremor led to the collapse of several previously damaged structures and the death of at least one person.

Yunus Sezer, the head of Turkey’s disaster management organization AFAD, told reporters that more than one hundred people had been harmed in Monday’s tremor, which had its epicenter near the town of Yesilyurt in Malatya province. There was a total collapse of over 24 structures.

After being injured, a father and daughter were rescued from beneath the rubble of a collapsed four-story building in Yesilyurt, as reported by AP News. They went into the wrecked structure to retrieve their belongings.

Across Malatya, HaberTurk reported that rescue workers were combing through the wreckage of two collapsed buildings that fell on a parking area. Nobody knows if anyone was buried in the rubble.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6 also devastated Malatya, one of 11 Turkish provinces. More than 48,000 people died as a result of the earthquake in both countries, and 185,000 buildings in Turkey were destroyed or severely damaged.

The head of AFAD has advised residents to stay out of damaged buildings because of the continued threat posed by powerful aftershocks. Since February 6 there have been over 10,000 aftershocks.

On Monday, the World Bank announced its estimate that the massive earthquake caused $34.2 billion in “direct damages,” or about 4% of the country’s GDP in 2021. The cost of recovery and reconstruction could potentially double, and GDP losses would increase the cost of the earthquake, according to the World Bank, and 1.25 million have been reported to be temporarily homeless as a result of the disaster.

On Sunday, the Associated Press noted that supporters of the Turkish soccer team, Besiktas, threw stuffed toys onto the field in support of kids who had been impacted by the earthquake. In an effort to help children in the areas affected, people threw toys and outerwear on the field at the stadium.

Previously, Detour reported that Turkish and Syrian authorities confirmed at least three people were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of a magnitude 6.3 aftershock that struck southern Turkey just last Monday.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Turkey’s Hatay Province near the town of Uzunbag occurred shortly after 5:00 local time, according to the United States Geological Survey. A strong 7.5-magnitude aftershock occurred a few hours after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the same province early on February 6 and both occurrences severely damaged the region.

U.S. citizens are being told by the State Department to “avoid travel to areas affected by the earthquake,” while British citizens are being told by the Foreign Office to “avoid the immediate vicinity” of the disaster, as reported by CNN.

Travel to the top tourist destinations, which are generally located outside of the areas affected by the earthquake, has not been significantly impacted. However, a country in a state of national emergency for the next three months will see some effect.

The earthquake, one of the strongest to hit the area in more than a century, affected roughly 10 provinces in Turkey: Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

The Architectural Digest reported that one of the historic city’s most well-known landmarks, the ancient Gaziantep Castle, suffered significant damage as a result of the earthquake. Aleppo, one of the most affected areas of northwest Syria and where more than four million people were already in need of humanitarian aid, was already devastated by 11 years of civil war.

Your airline is required to notify you of any changes to your trip if you have a flight scheduled to depart today.

There is no travel advice against visiting the nation’s beach resort cities, such as Antalya, Bodrum, Marmaris, and Izmir, as they were not affected by the earthquakes. As reported by Express UK, it is also safe to travel to Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, which were unphased by the earthquake.

The majority of flights to and from Antalya Airport, where many British citizens arrive for their transfers to resorts, are currently running as usual, according to FlightRadar24. The same can be said, according to Skyscanner, for the airports in Bodrum and Dalaman.

Evie Blanco is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. She is extremely well-versed in hip-hop music and culture and is always aware of any developments within it. Whether it’s the latest in pop culture, a fascinating foreign destination, a truly amazing new restaurant, or breaking news, she loves to write about it all.

This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Turkey experiences 5.6-magnitude earthquake: What travelers need to know."