A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday afternoon.

An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck Turkey and Syria on Monday evening. Several buildings collapsed, and people were reported to be trapped under the rubble.

At least 213 others were injured and three people lost their lives, according to authorities.

The earthquake occurred at 8 pm local time. In the hours that followed, a number of aftershocks were recorded, according to the Seismological Center for Europe and the Mediterranean.

The quake joins a long line of larger and smaller quakes in the region recently.

– panic

The earthquake was at a depth of two kilometers and its epicenter was near the town of Defne in the Turkish province of Hatay bordering Syria.

In Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, and several other cities, buildings damaged in earthquakes two weeks ago have collapsed.

Eyewitnesses tell of panic in the city, as clouds of dust rise again from the rubble. According to local media, at least one person has been found dead. At 20:00 on Monday, Reuters wrote that the Turkish vice president had reported that at least eight people had been injured as a result of the earthquake.

Journalists also reported the sound of screaming, indicating that several people may have been injured in the strong aftershock.

6,000 followers

More than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the first strong earthquake hit the border region between Turkey and Syria on February 6.

Antakya, the capital of Hatay province, was hit hard. Large parts of the city lie in ruins, and at the end of the week local authorities reported that at least 80 percent of buildings in the city were either destroyed or damaged so badly that they must be demolished.

The death toll from the earthquake disaster exceeded 46,000 people. Of those, more than 41,000 dead have been found in Turkey, according to Turkish authorities.