The new earthquakes of 6.4 and 5.8 on the Richter scale that occurred after 19:00 today brought to life the nightmare of 7.8 on the Richter scale, caused panic in the residents of Turkey.

According to an AFP journalist, the earthquake caused panic among the earthquake victims and raised great clouds of dust over the ruined city. He reported collapses of already damaged buildings and dramatic calls for help from residents.

Turkey’s disaster agency AFAD urged residents of Hatay province to stay away from the coast, warning that there is risk of sea level rise.

For at least eight injured from today’s earthquakes, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said, arguing that there is no cause for concern regarding sea level rise.

AFP correspondents said the tremors were also felt in Aleppo, northwest Syria, where panicked residents rushed out of their homes into the street. A photojournalist said he saw walls of buildings damaged by the large earthquake on February 6 falling.

In Antakia, the earthquake also caused panic among residents. In a square, Ali Mazloum, an 18-year-old Syrian, said he was with AFAD rescuers searching for the bodies of his relatives when the quake struck. “It took us by surprise, we didn’t know what to do. We grabbed each other and right in front of us the walls started to crumble. We had the impression that the earth would open in the middle and swallow us.”

A short distance away, a bulldozer was trying to remove rubble from a boulevard. “That one over there just fell,” said one rescuer, pointing to what was left of a building.

Ali Mazloum, who has lived in Antakia for 12 years, is still searching for the body of his sister and her family. Turkish authorities have halted rescue operations in all other provinces except Kahramanmaras and Hatay, after hopes of finding survivors 14 days after the quake have faded.

Muna al-Omar, a resident of Antakya, said that at the time of the earthquake, she was in a tent set up in a city park. “I thought the earth was going to open up under my feet,” she said sobbing, as she held her seven-year-old son in her arms. “Will there be another aftershock?” he wondered.

According to AFAD, more than 6,000 aftershocks have been recorded since the February 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake that shook southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria.

The epicenter of the first 6.4-magnitude earthquake was located at Defne in Hatay, according to the Turkish disaster agency AFAD, an area located 14 km southeast of Antioch in Turkey and 70 km north of Latakia in Syria. The earthquake had a focal depth of 10 km. Three minutes later, a second 5.8 Richter earthquake with the same epicenter occurred.