51 killed as earthquake rocks Turkey

A strong, pre-dawn earthquake knocked down stone and mud-brick houses, barns and minarets in eastern Turkey yesterday, killing 51 people in five villages, the government said.

The earthquake surprised many residents as they slept, crumpling buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into narrow village streets, some climbing out of windows, as nearly 80 aftershocks measuring up to 5.5 and 5.3 magnitude rattled the region.

The Kandilli seismology centre said the 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 4:32am (0232 GMT) near the village of Basyurt in a remote, sparsely populated area of Elazig province. The region is 550km east of Ankara, the capital.