A NEW 6.4 magnitude earthquake killed at least six people and injured hundreds more on Monday in parts of Turkey and Syria already laid waste two weeks ago by a massive quake that killed tens of thousands, authorities said. 

The latest earthquake, which saw scores of already damaged buildings collapse, was centred in the town of Defne, in Turkey’s Hatay province, one of the worst-hit regions in the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck on February 6. 

The shock from the quake was felt as far away as Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, and was followed by a second, magnitude 5.8 tremor.

Initially Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that three people had been killed and 213 injured.

The death toll was revised upwards to six on Tuesday morning. 

HaberTurk journalists reporting from Hatay said that they were jolted violently by Monday’s quake and held onto each other to avoid falling.

In the Turkish city of Adana, eyewitness Alejandro Malaver said people left homes for the streets, carrying blankets into their cars. Malaver said everyone is really scared and “no-one wants to get back into their houses.”

In the Syrian city of Idlib, frightened residents were preparing to sleep in parks and other public places, while fuel lines formed at gas stations as people attempted to get as far as possible from any buildings that might collapse.

The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that six people were injured in Aleppo by falling debris.

The White Helmets, north-west Syria’s civil defence organisation, reported more than 130 injuries, most of them non-life threatening.

The February 6 quake killed nearly 45,000 people in both countries, the vast majority of them in Turkey, where more than a million-and-a-half people are now in temporary shelters. 

Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since.