Istanbul - At least eight people were killed in Turkey's
eastern city of Van after an earthquake struck in the Iran-Turkey
border area, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Sunday
Rescue efforts continued in four villages in Van's Baskale district,
180 kilometres from the border with Iran, Soylu told journalists in
the eastern city of Elazig, according to state news agency Anadolu.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake had a
magnitude of 5.7 and a depth of 5 kilometres.
State broadcaster TRT showed footage of destroyed buildings in the
Ozpinar village, where rescue teams continued to search for victims
with sniffer dogs.
No people are believed to be under the rubble, Van Governor Mehmet
Emin Bilmez said in televised remarks in Ozpinar village.
At least 21 people were wounded, eight of them in critical condition,
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca separately said in Ankara.
The Turkish Red Crescent said it dispatched aid, including blankets
and food, to Baskale.
Turkey sits on the major North Anatolian fault line. A 6.8-magnitude
earthquake that struck near the city of Elazig last month killed 41
people. More than 1,600 people were injured and several buildings
were destroyed.