Turkey’s southern region, still reeling from the devastating earthquakes on Feb. 6 that left more than 50,000 people dead, was shaken anew Monday when a 5.6 magnitude temblor hit the southeastern province of Malatya, killing at least one person and injuring dozens of others.
The earthquake was centered in the Malatya town of Yesilyurt, the country’s management disaster agency AFAD said. A number of buildings collapsed, including a four-story building where a father and daughter were trapped, Turkish news outlets reported.
The latest earthquake came amid a fresh wave of popular fury triggered by news that the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) had through a little-known business arm sold thousands of tents to a Turkish charity instead of dispatching them immediately and free of charge to victims when the first earthquakes struck. The charity, Ahbab, is lauded for its rapid and effective response in this and previous disasters. Its founder, Turkish pop star Haluk Levent, confirmed the purchase totaling 46 million Turkish liras ($1.9 million). Levent tweeted, “While people were freezing to death, trying to survive, we didn’t have the luxury of debating ‘should we buy these tents or not.’” The performer conceded that Kizilay had given him “a discount,” though it had charged him a value added tax.
The earthquakes directly impacted over 23 million people across Turkey and Syria, according to the British Red Cross. Over 1.5 million people have been left homeless in Turkey. With thousands of victims still under the rubble, the actual death toll could double, some experts say. Many blame bureaucratic paralysis, lax building code enforcement and massive corruption for the high number of fatalities.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.