Church of Virgin Mary in southern Türkiye suffers further damage in Monday's earthquakes

By Hikmet Say

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) – The historic Church of the Virgin Mary, located in Türkiye’s southernmost Hatay province, suffered extensive new damage in Monday's two earthquakes, two weeks after major quakes jolted the region, a local official told Anadolu.

The damage to the outer walls of the church from the twin quakes that jolted southern Türkiye on Feb. 6 was exacerbated by Monday’s quakes, both of which were centered in Hatay, unlike the quakes two weeks ago. The Orthodox church, used by local Turkish citizens of Armenian origin, is reportedly some 700 years old.

Local authorities closed the church for worship after the Feb. 6 earthquakes, Berc Kartun, headman of the town of Vakifli, told Anadolu.

"The church was almost completely destroyed in the latest earthquake. It is now unusable. Its outer walls have fallen. There’s a lot of damage inside. Worship isn’t allowed in the church at the moment. It is impossible to enter the building," said Kartun.

At least six people were killed and 294 others wounded when two smaller earthquakes, magnitudes 6.4 and 5.8, jolted Türkiye’s southernmost Hatay province on Monday evening, the country’s disaster agency said.

The Hatay-centered quakes came just two weeks after the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes centered in Kahramanmaras.

The powerful twin quakes struck 10 other provinces on Feb. 6 – Hatay, Gaziantep, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Osmaniye, and Elazig.

More than 13 million people have been affected by the disaster, with the death toll now above 41,000, according to the latest official figures.​​​

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz