Magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes Turkey-Syria border region, tremors felt in Israel

An earthquake, with a magnitude 6.3 at a depth of two km (1.2 miles), struck the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. Shaking was also felt in Lebanon, and Israel, among other places. 

Two Reuters witnesses reported a strong quake and further damage to buildings in central Antakya which was hit by two massive earthquakes two weeks ago, causing tens of thousands of deaths and destroying buildings  and infrastructure. 

"This is the 11th felt earthquake in Turkey-Syria Border Region in the last 68 hours," said EMSC about the earthquake near Turkey's southeastern Hatay province.

The report came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Turkey that Washington would help "for as long as it takes" after devastating, deadly earthquakes in the same region two weeks ago.

Blinken on Sunday toured an area devastated by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks that killed more than 47,000 people in southern Turkey and northwest Syria.

Other witnesses said Turkish rescue teams were running around after the latest quake, checking people were unharmed. Some buildings that were damaged in the deadly twin quakes two weeks ago collapsed in the tremor, CNN Turk reported, citing eyewitnesses.

Muna Al Omar, a resident, said she was in a tent in a park in central Antakya when the earthquake hit.

"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," she said, crying as she held her 7-year-old son in her arms.

"Is there going to be another aftershock?" she asked. President Tayyip Erdogan 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 $185 million, the U.S. State Department said.

Vice-President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter that investigations were ongoing and warned citizens to stay away from damaged buildings.

Smaller tremors have jolted the region in the last two weeks but the Monday quake was the largest since Feb. 6.

"It was very strong. It jolted us out of our places," said Burhan Abdelrahman, who was walking out of his tent in a camp in Antakya city centre when the earthquake struck.

"I called relatives in Syria, Adana, Mersin, Izmir, everywhere, to check on them."

Turkey's disaster agency AFAD urged residents to stay away from the Mediterranean coast over a possible 50-centimetre rise in waters due to the quake.

Videos posted on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed passengers at Antakya airport taking cover in panic as the quake jolted the glass building.