New 6.3-Magnitude Deadly Earthquake Hits Turkey-Syria Border

A new 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Syria-Turkey border on Monday (February 20), two weeks after two historic earthquakes killed more than 46,000 people in the region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and Turkish government.

At least three people were killed and 213 others were injured during the latest earthquake, according to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu via the Associated Press. The earthquake was reported to be centered near the city of Uzunbağ near the Mediterranean Sea and struck at around 8:04 p.m. local time, according to the USGS via NBC News.

Shaking brought on by the earthquakes led to panic and damaged buildings in the nearby city of Antakya and the natural disaster was reported to be felt in both Egypt and Lebanon, according to Reuters.

"I thought the earth was going to split open under my feet," Muna Al Omar, a resident of Antakya, told Reuters while holding her 7-year-old son in her arms.

"Is there going to be another aftershock?" she asked.

Electricity was reported to be out and several buildings collapsed in the coastal Turkish city of Iskenderun, Mayor Fatih Tosyali announced via Sky News Arabia.

A total of 46,957 people -- 41,156 in Turkey and 5,801 in Syria -- are reported to have died in relation to the two earthquakes that struck the region on February 6. The first earthquake was reported to register at a 7.8 magnitude and the second at 7.5, NBC News reported at the time.

The initial earthquake was reported to be centered about 20 miles from Gaziantep, a provincial capital city within Turkey and was the country's largest disaster since 1939, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced. The region had already been dealing with a harsh winter as millions have been displaced by an ongoing nearly 12-year civil war.