Earthquake rocks eastern Turkey: 57 dead

A strong earthquake killed 57 villagers in a remote part of eastern Turkey before dawn on Monday, officials said, and aftershocks continued for hours after while rescuers searched for trapped survivors.

People were sleeping in their mud-brick houses when the 6.0-magnitude quake struck at 4:32 am local time (0232 GMT) in a sparsely-populated area of high steppe in Eastern Anatolia.

"There was a lot of fear and panic among the people. It lasted about a minute. We felt it very strongly and everyone tried to get out onto the street," Nursel Sengezer, a Dogan News Agency correspondent in Elazig, told a Turkish broadcaster.

Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes. A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed about 18,000 people in August 1999.

On Monday, families huddled in the open around fires lit to keep them warm, as the ground shook with more than 40 aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.5.

The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in stricken villages in the Basyurt region of Elazig, according to provincial governor Muammer Erol.

Television images from the area showed women crying and embracing amid the ruins of their one-storey houses, and cars and ambulances ferrying injured to a hospital in the nearby town of Kovancilar.

"I ask my citizens in the region not to go into damaged houses because earthquakes and aftershocks are continuing," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his AK Party.

Erdogan lamented the loss of life due to the vulnerability of the traditional mud-brick village homes, and pledged to rebuild houses using stronger materials.

Para-military and police directed operations on the outskirts of affected villages, where crowds had gathered, and a Red Crescent team had reached the area and set up a crisis centre.

The Turkish Red Crescent has sent 500 tents and foodstuff, while public institutions have dispatched 10 containers to the quake zone.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and three other ministers travelled to the quake zone, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. Cicek said the death toll had risen to 57, confirming estimates given by local officials to broadcasters.

There were no reports of any damage to the strategic hydroelectric Keban Dam, further west in Elazig. The Keban Dam was the first and most upstream dam built by Turkey on the Euphrates River as part of the Southeast Anatolia Project.

Elementary and secondary schools will be closed for two days due to the massive earthquake.