Another earthquake struck the border region of Turkey and Syria on Monday, just two weeks after the area had been devastated by the larger quake which killed more than 47,000 people, damaging and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes.

Monday’s quake, this time at a magnitude of 6.3, was centered near the southern Turkish city of Antakya and was felt in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.

It struck at a depth of just two km (1.2 miles), the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said, potentially magnifying its impact at ground level.

🇹🇷 | Dos nuevos sismos de magnitud 6.4 y 5.8 ocurrieron en Hata, Turquía, la noche de este lunes.#Turkey #Turquia #Terremoto #Sismo #Turkiye #earthquake pic.twitter.com/eO9Nzvjj4P

— ALERTA RD 🇩🇴 Y EL 🗺️ (@AlertasRD) February 20, 2023
Hours earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Turkey that Washington would help “for as long as it takes” as rescue operations in the wake of the February 6 earthquake and its aftershocks were winding down, and focus turned towards urgent shelter and reconstruction work.

The death toll from the quakes two weeks ago rose to 41,156 in Turkey, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority AFAD said on Monday, and it was expected to climb further, with 385,000 apartments known to have been destroyed or seriously damaged and many people still missing.

#BreakingNow ⚠️ Citizens injured by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake in #Hatay are removed from the debris areas by soldiers.#earthquake #earthquakes #[email protected] 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/2endWSbw6l

— The Revenge Arms ™ (@rearrange81) February 20, 2023
The Turkish president said construction work on nearly 200,000 apartments in 11 earthquake-hit provinces of Turkey would begin next month.

Total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria has reached USD 185 mln, the U.S. State Department said.