Seven dead in Turkey as 5.7 magnitude earthquake strikes near Iran border
- The quake hit the Iranian city of Khoy and affected villages in Van, Turkey
- Three children and four adults were killed in Turkey’s Baskule district
- Injured people remain trapped under the debris of fallen buildings
Seven people have been killed in Turkey in a magnitude 5.7 earthquake that struck the border of Iran today.
The quake hit the Iranian city of Khoy and affected villages in the Turkish province of Van according to officials.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu told a news conference in Ankara that three children and four adults were killed in Turkey’s Baskule district.
Houses are reduced to rubble after an earthquake hit villages in Baskale in Van province, Turkey, at the border with Iran
Five injured people had been taken to hospital while others remained trapped under the debris of fallen buildings, he added.
Emergency teams have been sent to the mountainous region.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the earthquake affected 43 villages in the mountainous Qotour area. It report some residents were injured but didn’t say any were in critical condition.
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Center the quake had a depth of 5 kilometers (3 miles).
The region has a history of powerful earthquakes. Last month a quake centred on the eastern Turkish city of Elazig killed more than 40 people.
A man carries a wounded boy to an ambulance after an earthquake hit villages in Baskale town in Van province, Turkey, at the border with Iran