Tremor felt across Israel as another quake shakes Turkey-Syria border

6.4-magnitude temblor strikes Hatay, Southern Turkey, triggering tsunami warning; Israel Geological Institute confirms shake recorded shortly after 7 p.m.

The Geological Institute said a tremor was recorded in Israel on Monday night, moments after another strong earthquake struck the Turkey-Syrian border region.

Police said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the Israeli quake, which the Geological Institute believes struck north of the country shortly after 7 p.m.

At the same time, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, the hardest hit by a February 6 tremor which left more than 41,000 dead in the country, the disaster response agency AFAD said.

According to reports, a tsunami warning was issued in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The quake hit the town of Defne at 8:04 p.m. (7.04 p.m. Israel time) and was strongly felt by AFP teams in Antakya and Adana, 200 kilometers (300 miles) to the north.

An AFP journalist reported scenes of panic, adding that the new tremors raised clouds of dust in the devastated town.

The walls of badly damaged buildings crumbled while several people, apparently injured, called for help.

???? #Turkey Coming up images of the New #Earthquake 6.3 that hit #Hatay today. pic.twitter.com/yR0lE9pQmv

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According to AFAD, more than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the 7.8-magnitude quake hit Turkey and Syria.

A 3.3 magnitude quake was registered in Israel on Saturday, with multiple other tremors recorded over the past two weeks.

Experts say minor quakes are a regular occurrence in Israel, which lies along an active fault line: the Syrian-African rift, a tear in the earth’s crust that runs the length of the border separating Israel and Jordan. Major earthquakes in the area happen on average once every 80 years, though the last occurred over a century ago.

The recent deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria has drawn renewed scrutiny of Israel’s lack of preparedness for a major quake, with experts warning that hundreds of thousands could be left homeless.