ANKARA, Turkey -- A new 6.4 magnitude earthquake Monday killed three people and injured more than 200 in parts of Turkey laid waste two weeks ago by a massive quake that killed tens of thousands, authorities said. More buildings collapsed, trapping some people, while scores of injuries were recorded in neighboring Syria too.
Monday's earthquake was centered in the town of Defne, in Turkey's Hatay province, one the worst-hit regions in the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck on Feb. 6. It was felt in Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and as far away as Egypt, and followed by a second, magnitude 5.8 temblor.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said three people were killed and 213 injured. Search and rescue efforts were underway in three collapsed buildings where six people were believed to be trapped.
In Hatay, police rescued one person trapped inside a three-story building and were trying to reach three others inside, HaberTurk television reported. It said those trapped included movers helping people shift furniture and other belongings from the building that was damaged in the massive quake.
Syria's state news agency, SANA, reported that six people were injured in Aleppo by falling debris. The White Helmets, northwest Syria's civil defense organization, reported more than 130 injuries, most of them non-life-threatening, including fractures and cases of people fainting from fear, while a number of buildings in areas already damaged by the quake collapsed.
The Feb. 6 quake killed nearly 45,000 people in both countries -- the vast majority of them in Turkey, where more than 1½ million people are in temporary shelters. Turkish authorities have recorded more than 6,000 aftershocks since.
HaberTurk journalists reporting from Hatay said they were jolted violently by Monday's quake and held onto to 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 American Medical Society, which runs hospitals in northern Syria, said it had treated a number of patients -- including a 7-year-old boy -- who suffered heart attacks brought on by fear following the new quake.
The Turkish disaster management agency AFAD on Monday raised the number of confirmed fatalities from the Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey to 41,156. That increased the overall death toll in both Turkey and Syria to 44,844.
BLINKEN IN TURKEY
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday called for Sweden and Finland to be accepted into NATO "as quickly as possible," although his Turkish counterpart dismissed the possibility of any link between their accession and Turkey's request for F-16 fighter jets.
Turkey has delayed the Nordic countries' admission to the trans-Atlantic defense alliance, citing concerns over terrorism. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. Congress have tied approval of the F-16 deal to Ankara retracting its opposition to the NATO enlargement.
"We're confident that NATO will formally welcome them in soon," Blinken told a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara. "And when that happens, it will enhance the security of every NATO member, including the United States, including Turkey."
Cavusoglu repeated Turkey's position that it would be willing to approve Finland joining NATO before Sweden. Turkey has complained about what it sees as Stockholm's tolerance of support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a 39-year insurgency against Ankara.
"Unfortunately PKK supporters are still present in Sweden," he said. "They are recruiting people and they are financing terror acts and they are carrying out terror propaganda in Sweden ... because they don't want Sweden to become a NATO member."
While acknowledging that Sweden had made constitutional changes in a bid to satisfy Turkey's demands, he said that more needed to be done to "convince our parliament and people."
Ankara has also been angered by Sweden allowing protests against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and not preventing an anti-Islam activist from burning the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in a separate, solitary protest.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday he remained "convinced that (Sweden and Finland) will join together." He added: "Ultimately, it is a Turkish decision to decide on ratification, that has not changed."
Information for this article was contributed by Suzan Fraser, Andrew Wilks and Jan M. Olsen of The Associated Press.
Gallery: New quake hits Turkey, Syria
