The number of deaths from a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in eastern Turkey has climbed to at least 57, the mayor of the village of Kovancilar said on local television on Monday.
According to the Kandilli earthquake observatory, the tremor hit at 4:32 a.m. [02:32 GMT] in the eastern province of Elazig. Earlier there were reports of 38 dead, more than 100 have been injured.
More than a dozen aftershocks have hit the area since the initial quake; the largest being 5.5 on the Richter scale.
Turkey has numerous fault lines on its territory and earthquakes are common. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake in August 1999 killed some 18,000 people.
ANKARA, March 8 (RIA Novosti)
