A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked a sparsely populated part of eastern Turkey on Friday, killing at least people, injuring more than 1999 and leaving some (trapped in the wreckage of toppled buildings, Turkish officials said.
Rescue teams from neighbouring provinces were dispatched to the affected areas, working in the dark with floodlights in the freezing cold, and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said troops were on standby to help.
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Quake exposes poor Turkish building
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Hundreds of residents were left homeless or with damaged homes.
TV footage showed rescuers pull out one injured person from the rubble of a collapsed building in the district of Gezin, in the eastern Elazig province.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said emergency workers were searching for People trapped under the rubble.
The quake struck at 8: (local time) : (GMT), at a depth of 6.7km ( 4.1 miles) near the town of Sivrice in Elazig, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said. It was followed by several aftershocks, the strongest with magnitudes 5.4 and 5.1.
Elazig is some (km) 563 miles) east of the capital, Ankara.
AFD said sixteen people were killed in Elazig and four more in the neighborhood province of Malatya. Some 
were injured in hospitals in the region, it added.
Residents walk on a street as Turkish officials and police arrive at the scene of a collapsed building following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Elazig, eastern Turkey on Friday evening [Ilyas Akengin/Demiroren News Agency via AFP]
Some The buildings had collapsed from the quake in the two provinces, according to Murat Kurum, the environment minister.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that all measures were being taken to “ensure that the earthquake that occurred in Elazig and was felt in many provinces is overcome with the least amount of loss.”
People in Elazig whose homes were damaged or were too afraid to go indoors were being moved to student dormitories or sports center amid freezing conditions.
AFAD warned residents not to return to damaged buildings because of the danger of further aftershocks. It said beds, blankets and tents were being sent to the area where some people sheltered in sports gymnasiums.
Elazig Governor Cetin Oktay Kaldirim told NTV television that a fire broke out in a building in Sivrice but was quickly brought under control.
The Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said the quake measured 6.5, while the US Geological Survey gave the preliminary magnitude as 6.7, and said the earthquake affected not only Turkey but also Syria, Georgia and Armenia. Different earthquake monitoring centers frequently give differing estimates.
NTV said the earthquake was felt in several Turkish provinces and sent people running outdoors in panic.
Turkey sits on top of two major fault-lines and earthquakes are frequent. Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Turkey in 1999, killing around 25, 06 people.
Turkey braces for next major earthquake
)
Quake exposes poor Turkish building
Quake exposes poor Turkish building
)
Hundreds of residents were left homeless or with damaged homes.
TV footage showed rescuers pull out one injured person from the rubble of a collapsed building in the district of Gezin, in the eastern Elazig province.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said emergency workers were searching for People trapped under the rubble.
The quake struck at 8: (local time) : (GMT), at a depth of 6.7km ( 4.1 miles) near the town of Sivrice in Elazig, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said. It was followed by several aftershocks, the strongest with magnitudes 5.4 and 5.1.
Elazig is some (km) 563 miles) east of the capital, Ankara.
AFD said sixteen people were killed in Elazig and four more in the neighborhood province of Malatya. Some 
were injured in hospitals in the region, it added.
Residents walk on a street as Turkish officials and police arrive at the scene of a collapsed building following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Elazig, eastern Turkey on Friday evening [Ilyas Akengin/Demiroren News Agency via AFP]
Some The buildings had collapsed from the quake in the two provinces, according to Murat Kurum, the environment minister.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that all measures were being taken to “ensure that the earthquake that occurred in Elazig and was felt in many provinces is overcome with the least amount of loss.”
People in Elazig whose homes were damaged or were too afraid to go indoors were being moved to student dormitories or sports center amid freezing conditions.
Elazig Governor Cetin Oktay Kaldirim told NTV television that a fire broke out in a building in Sivrice but was quickly brought under control.
The Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said the quake measured 6.5, while the US Geological Survey gave the preliminary magnitude as 6.7, and said the earthquake affected not only Turkey but also Syria, Georgia and Armenia. Different earthquake monitoring centers frequently give differing estimates.
NTV said the earthquake was felt in several Turkish provinces and sent people running outdoors in panic.
Turkey sits on top of two major fault-lines and earthquakes are frequent. Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Turkey in 1999, killing around 25, 06 people.
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