A magnitude 6.4 quake struck on Monday in southern Turkey’s Hatay province, the strongest since February 6’s devastating aftershocks, the Office of Emergency and Disaster Management said.

Hatay State was hit hard by earthquakes earlier this month — Photo: Ozan Kose/File/AFP/ND

The earthquake, whose epicenter was in the city of Defne, an area located about fifteen minutes from Antakya, occurred at 20:04 local time (14:04 GMT) and was felt in Antakya and Adana, 200 kilometers to the north.

According to an AFP journalist who arrived at the scene, the earthquake caused panic among the population and raised large clouds of dust.

More than 6,000 aftershocks followed the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated southern Turkey and Syria earlier this month, according to AFAD.