A magnitude 5.3 earthquake hit southeastern Turkey today. The earthquake was recorded at around 22:31 local time (20:31 CET) in the municipality of Göksun, the Kandilli earthquake station said in the evening via the short message service Twitter. The USGS put the earthquake’s magnitude at 5.0. State news agency Anadolu reported a force of 5.1, citing information from civil protection agency AFad.
The municipality of Göksun is located in the province of Kahramanmaras, which was hit by the earthquake disaster in the Syrian-Turkish border area.
More than 40,000 dead in Turkey alone
AFAD recently warned of strong aftershocks from the devastating earthquake twelve days ago in the Turkish-Syrian border area, which claimed more than 40,000 confirmed deaths in Turkey alone. There are around 5,900 people confirmed dead in Syria so far. In total, more than 46,000 people lost their lives in both countries.
Despite reports to the contrary, missing professional soccer player Christian Atsu was also found dead today. The Ghanaian died under a tall building in Hatay province, which was particularly hard hit by the tremors. Meanwhile, Turkish media reported that the player had been rescued. According to his club Hatayspor, he is now to be taken to his native Ghana and buried there.
People are still being rescued from the rubble. According to media reports, three people, including a child, were rescued in Antakya about 296 hours after the first tremor. However, the 12-year-old did not survive despite medical treatment, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
According to information from AFAD, more than 40,000 emergency services from Germany and abroad are still on duty to rescue people who have been buried.