A powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey killed at least 57 people this morning after burying victims in their sleep.
Around 100 more were injured as the tremor, which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, tore down mud-brick houses in remote villages in Elazig province.
Rescuers’ bid to dig survivors from the rubble was also hindered by 20 aftershocks, the strongest measuring 4.1.
The hardest-hit villages, near the town of Kovancilar, were Okcular, Yukari Kanatli and Kayali.
No other deaths have been reported outside of these settlements since the first tremor struck at 4.32am (2.32am in Britain)
The effect of the quake was particularly devastating as the epicentre was only three miles beneath the Earth’s surface, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.
Also, the flimsy housing, which is the only option for many of the rural poor in the region, also helped raise the death toll.
Elazig governor Muammer Erol said: ‘Villages consisting mainly of mud-brick houses have been damaged, but we have minimal damage such as cracks in buildings made of cement or stone.’
In the worst-hit village of Okcular, a mountain settlement that is home to 900 people, some 30 houses were demolished, according to rescue team leader Yasar Cagribay.
Residents wailed as the bodies of 17 people killed by the tremor were pulled from the houses. At least four of the dead there were four young sisters.
Seeking to recover any valuables they could from their homes, many villagers left for other towns to take shelter with relatives.
The quake killed many livestock, the main livelihood for the village, nestled in hills at a height of about 5,900ft.
The nearby villages of Yukari Kanatli, Kayalik, Gocmezler, Karakocan and Yukari Demirci were also seriously hit.
‘Everything has been knocked down, there is not a stone in place,’ said Yadin Apaydin, the mayor of Yukari Kanatli, where he said at least three villagers died.
The Turkish Army arrived in the area to help scour the debris for survivors as after-shocks jolted the area.
And the Turkish Red Crescent rushed tents, blankets, food and other humanitarian supplies to the region where the local hospital has been inundated with the injured.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek went to the disaster zone with Health Minister Recep Akdag, Housing Minister Mustafa Demir and State Minister Cevdet Yilmaz.
The tremor was felt in the neighbouring provinces of Bitlis and Diyarbakir.
Residents there rushed out onto the streets in panic and spent the night outside fearing new shocks.
Major earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several active fault-lines.
Two powerful tremors in the heavily populated and industrialized northwest claimed about 20,000 lives in August and November 1999
The Daily Mail