New quake triggers panic among public

AMMAN — A new 6.3-magnitude earthquake was registered on Monday, only two weeks after the devastating quakes that hit the Turkish-Syrian border region, triggering panic among the public.

Monday’s quake hit near Turkey's southern province of Hatay, bordering Syria.

Major news outlets reported that the quake was also felt in Jordan, Cyprus, the Palestinian Territories and Israeli-occupied territories, Lebanon and as far as Egypt.

Amman is 460 kilometres away from the epicentre, and some might have felt the minor tremours in Jordan. However, there were no adverse effects on people or infrastructure, head of the Jordan Seismological Observatory Ghassan Sweidan told The Jordan Times.

"People in Lebanon and Syria felt stronger tremours as they are located closer to Turkey,” he added. 

Sweiden pointed out that in such circumstances, no one can predict an impending earthquake or aftershock.

“Turkey lies in a seismically active zone, as it sits at the crossroads of several tectonic plates,” according to the seismologist, who also stressed that there is “no need to be anxious”. 

Regarding the mitigation strategies in the Kingdom, Sweidan said that there is a Jordanian “seismic building code” which ensures that buildings are constructed in compliance with earthquake regulations and can adequately resist the forces of tremors.