The İstanbul-based Kandilli seismology center says the quake occurred at 1:41 p.m. Its epicenter was in the village of Tabanli, province of Van, bordering Iran. The quake was also felt in the province's city center as well as the neighboring provinces of Bitlis, Muş, Batman, Diyarbakır and Hakkari. The quake struck at a depth of 5 kilometers.
The Prime Ministry's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said in a statement released after the quake that the tremor was strong and caused material damage and some fatalities. The earthquake also toppled some buildings in downtown Van as well as the neighboring town of Erciş, officials added. Several strong aftershocks were also reported.
Up to 80 buildings collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory, and 10 buildings collapsed in Van, the Turkish Red Crescent said. Some highways also caved in.
Authorities advised people to stay away from any damaged homes, warning they could collapse in the aftershocks. U.S. scientists recorded over 100 aftershocks in eastern Turkey within ten hours of the quake, including one with a magnitude of 6.0.
Residents in Van and Ercis lit camp fires, preparing to spend the night outdoors while the Red Crescent began setting up tents in a stadium. Others fled to seek shelter with relatives in nearby villages.
Rescue efforts went deep into the night under generator-powered floodlights. Workers tied steel rods around large concrete slabs in Van, then lifted them with heavy machinery.
Residents sobbed outside the ruins of one flattened eight-story building, hoping that missing relatives would be found. Witnesses said eight people were pulled from the rubble, but frequent aftershocks hampered search efforts. By late evening, some joy emerged as a ninth, a teenage girl, was pulled out alive.
Around 1,275 rescue teams from 38 provinces were being sent to the region, officials said, and troops were also assisting search-and-rescue efforts.
In Ercis, heavy machinery stopped working and people were ordered to keep silent as rescuers tried to listen for possible survivors inside a seven-story building housing 28 families, NTV reported.
Some inmates escaped a prison in Van after one of its walls collapsed. TRT television said around 150 inmates had fled, but a prison official said the number was much smaller and many later returned.
Many buildings also collapsed in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis, including student dormitories, hotels and gas stations.
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