More than 200 people have been killed on Sunday in the devastating quake that rocked eastern Turkey.

More than 200 people have been killed on Sunday in the devastating quake that rocked eastern Turkey. Rescuers on Monday searched for victims with scores feared trapped in the ruble of dozens of collapsed apartment buildings.

Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said that 100 people had died in the city of Van and 117 in Ercis district, with another 1,090 injured in the nation's worst quake in years.

Also on Monday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rushed to the Kurdish-populated Van province where the 7.2-magnitude quake, warning that the toll could rise as more victims were found in the wreckage of shattered buildings.
"Search and rescue efforts will continue overnight," he said.

Erdogan said the situation was particularly grave in Ercis, a district of around 100,000 people where around 55 apartment buildings have collapsed.
Television footage showed search and rescue teams recovering bodies from the rubble in Van city and Ercis, working under floodlights powered by generators as night fell.

"People are panicked. The telecommunication services have collapsed. We cannot reach anybody," Bekir Kaya, the mayor of Van, told NTV television.

Countless people spent the night outdoors after the terrifying quake which also caused widespread electricity outages, huddling around fires for warmth as the temperatures hovered around freezing.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 1041 GMT, was at Tabanli in Van province, the Kandilli institute said, and was followed by two strong aftershocks.
Although the quake damaged Van's airport it did not disrupt air traffic, the Anatolia news agency quoted civil aviation authorities as saying, and airlines launched additional flights to Van.

The quake was also felt across the border in northwestern Iran, causing some panic in major cities, Iranian media reported. They did not report any deaths or serious damage.