Earthquake Results In Collapse Of Several Residential Buildings In Latakia Area - Source

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2023) Several residential buildings have collapsed in the suburbs of Syria's Latakia as a result of the powerful earthquake that occurred in the early hours of Monday, an informed source told Sputnik.

Earlier on Monday, residents of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, told Sputnik that they felt an earthquake during the night. The Al-Watan newspaper reported that strong tremors were felt by residents of Damascus and Latakia in Syria.

"As a result of the earthquake in the suburbs of Latakia, one building collapsed, several more suffered visible damage. Residents of the city and some settlements nearby took to the streets, fearing that their homes would collapse due to tremors," a source told Sputnik.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), a 7.5-magnitude earthquake occurred in central Turkey, northwest of the city of Gaziantep, at 01:17 GMT on Monday. The earthquake's magnitude was later revised to 7.8 and numerous aftershocks were reported, with the strongest one having a magnitude of 6.7, according to EMSC.

Turkey's disaster management agency AFAD said that a 6.4-magnitude aftershock was recorded in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. At the same time, Turkish media reported earthquake-related destruction in Kahramanmaras, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir and Malatya.