A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has hit eastern Turkey, killing at
least 45 people in one town alone as buildings collapsed,
Turkish media say.
The quake struck close to the city of Van, where Anatolia news
agency said at least 50 people were injured.
Rescuers were scrambling to pull people from dozens of collapsed
buildings in Van and other nearby towns.
Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on
major geological fault lines.
Two earthquakes in 1999 with a magnitude of more than 7 killed
almost 20,000 people in densely populated parts of the north-west of
the country.
'We need medics'
The earthquake struck at 10:41 GMT (13:41 local time) with its
epicentre 16km (10 miles) north-east of Van, the US Geological
Survey said.
It was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, also centred
north of Van, including two of magnitude 5.6.
The main quake was at a depth of 20km, the USGS said.
Turkish television said 45 people had been
killed and 150 injured in the town of Ercis -
some 60km north of Van.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said 25-30
buildings had collapsed in Ercis and 10 had
collapsed in Van.
According to the Turkish Red Crescent, 25
buildings containing flats and one housing a
dormitory had collapsed in Ercis, AP said.
Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis, told
NTV: "There are so many dead. Several
buildings have collapsed, there is too much
destruction."
"We need urgent aid, we need medics," he is reported by the
Associated Press news agency as saying.
'Voices'
Television pictures from Van showed damaged buildings and vehicles
crushed by masonry, with panicked residents spilling into the streets.
Local official Veysel Keser said: "Many multi-floor buildings, hotels
and a dormitory were collapsed."
"We can hear voices from the collapsed
buildings," AFP news agency quoted him as
saying.
As night fell, rescuers struggled to pull people
from the rubble, working by torchlight, using
their hands and shovels.
Temperatures are expected to drop to near
0C overnight. The quake has cut electricity
and telephone lines and the authorities in
some areas have cut gas to avoid the risk of
fire.
The head of Turkey's seismology institute said hundreds of people
may have been killed.
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