Error trying to create a MYSQL table if one doesn't already exist

Question

I'm intending on having my php file query to have a table created on my database if one doesn't already exist. I've used the following below but I seem to get the error Warning: mysqli_query(): Empty query for the same php. What am i doing wrong?

$query = "";
    $result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

    if(empty($result)) {
        $query = "CREATE TABLE orders(order_id int(11) AUTO_INCREMENT, order_cost int(11), order_time timestamp CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, order_firstname varchar(15), order_lastname varchar(40), order_phone int(10), order_email varchar(40), order_card int(16), order_status varchar(9)";  
        echo $query;
        $result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);
    }

Answer 1

You should use CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS to eliminate the error that occurs when you create a table with same name multiple times
Hope this helps