Fifth earthquake hits Turkey; death toll crosses 5000

Agencies | Ankara                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Five back-to-back earthquakes in the past 48 hours have killed over 5,000 and left tens of thousands injured in Turkey and Syria. 

On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 centered in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report. Later in the day, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude centred in Kahramanmaras's Elbistan district jolted the region. The earthquake was also felt in several neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Syria. The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey

The United Nations said the first quake of magnitude 7.8 that had hit the southern Turkey early Monday was the county's most powerful quake in more than 80 years. 

Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said the total number of deaths in Turkey had risen to 3,419, with another 20,534 people injured. That brought the number of people killed to 5,102, with another 1,602 people confirmed dead on the Syrian side of the border.

Turkish police on Tuesday said they had detained four people over "provocative" social media posts following a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey.

The quake struck the region early on Monday, killing more than 4,800 people in Turkey and Syria, injuring thousands and leaving many more without shelter in the bitter cold.

The four individuals were detained after officers found accounts that shared "provocative posts aiming to create fear and panic", the police said.