At least one killed, over 100 injured after new earthquake of magnitude 5.6 hits Turkey, says disaster agency

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Turkey on Monday (February 27) which led to some of the buildings already damaged due to the powerful tremor witnessed earlier this month to collapse, said the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority(AFAD). According to officials, the epicentre of the tremor was the Yesilyurt district in the Malatya province.

The head of AFAD, Yunus Sezer, told a news conference that search and rescue teams had been deployed to five buildings. Hours later, in an update, he also took to Twitter and said that 110 people had beeninjured among them were 32 otherswho "were saved as injured."

The disaster agency had alsotakento Twitter and said, one person has been killed after the earthquake on Monday while29 buildings were demolished.According to the AFAD, after the 5.6 magnitude earthquake, “it was found as a result of the field scanning studies that there were destroyed buildings”.

“A total of 650 personnel, who are in the region and are rapidly dispatched from the surrounding provinces by air and road, are involved in the search and rescue efforts,” said the government disaster agency, in a subsequent tweet.

This comes after the country was hit by a series of earthquakes on February 6 which has killed over 44,000 people in Turkey, so far. Meanwhile, local mayor Mehmet Cinar said that teams were urgently guided to check if anyone was trapped under the rubble, as per local media reports.

Hours after the quake,Cinar told HaberTurk television that a number of buildings in Yesilyurt collapsed after the recent tremor. He added,a father and daughter were trapped in a collapsed four-storey building after the duo had enteredto collect their belongings, reported Al Jazeera.

This comes as the Turkish authorities continue to investigate individuals responsible for buildings levelled by the deadly earthquake that has since left millions without homes.

(With inputs from agencies)

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