A woman died and more than 25 people were injured with varying degrees of severity due to the earthquake that struck east of Hama city on the evening of Monday, August 12.
The official Syrian news agency (SANA) announced that an elderly woman died in the village of al-Raba in northern Salamiya countryside due to severe panic from the earthquake.
The director of the National Hospital of Salamiya, Osama Milhem, told SANA that 25 people were taken to the hospital with injuries and bruises caused by their hurried rush and falling to the ground while trying to leave their homes during the earthquake. There were also cases of panic and nervous breakdowns reported.
The head of the Salamiya City Council, Suhad Zidan, stated that the earthquake caused damage to several houses, including the collapse of some stone decorations in buildings, cracking walls, and breaking windows and doors.
The Syria Civil Defence rescue agency reported that a newborn baby sustained severe head fractures and temporary cardiac arrest after falling from his mother’s hands while she was rushing down from her house in Afrin, northern Aleppo, in panic following the earthquake that hit Syria.
In the same context, the National Earthquake Center in Syria reported that 14 aftershocks were recorded from Monday evening until 8 am on Tuesday, August 13. The most intense aftershock measured 5.5 on the Richter scale east of Hama, according to the local al-Watan newspaper.
The center added that the main earthquake occurred due to energy accumulation over the past period within secondary faults connected to the Dead Sea fault, while the following tremors were weaker aftershocks.
The center had previously warned of noticeable changes in seismic activity in the region within a range extending from south of Tartus in the sea to Talkalakh to Hama up to Salamiya, stating that the likelihood of earthquakes below 5 on the Richter scale is estimated at 30%.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale struck east of Hama city at 11:56 pm on Monday, August 12, followed by several weaker aftershocks.
The National Earthquake Center in Syria (based in Damascus) mentioned that the epicenter of the earthquake was the city of Salamiya, and its depth was 3.9 kilometers.
The earthquake was felt by residents of several Syrian provinces, reaching northwestern Syria, and its effects extended to neighboring countries including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.