Istanbul (CNN)At least 15 people have died and more than 500 were injured in eastern Turkey after an earthquake rattled the region on Friday evening, according to authorities.

The 6.7-magnitude quake struck near the town of Sivrice, in eastern Elazig province, collapsing at least 10 buildings, Turkish Interior Minister Sulyman Soylu said.
Soylu said 10 people were killed in Elazig province, while the other five were in Malatya province.


Video from Turkey's IHA Broadcasting Services shows emergency crews rescuing injured people from a collapsed building. Search and rescue operations were underway for 30 missing people in the Elazig city, Soylu said.
Two of the injured are in critical condition, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD.
Teams conduct search operations for survivors of a collapsed building in Malatya province.
Teams conduct search operations for survivors of a collapsed building in Malatya province.
Preliminary reports say the earthquake lasted 40 seconds, AFAD said.
Fifteen aftershocks have been felt in the wake, with the strongest registering at 5.4 magnitude, Soylu said. The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), which enhances the shaking felt at the surface.
Turkish rescue and police work at the scene of a collapsed building following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Elazig, eastern Turkey on January 24, 2020.
Turkish rescue and police work at the scene of a collapsed building following a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Elazig, eastern Turkey on January 24, 2020.
About 500,000 people felt strong to very strong shaking, the USGS reported. The earthquake was felt in several other countries, including Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
According to the initial estimates from USGS, damage should be "relatively localized."

The quake interrupted a live broadcast of Edessa TV. Video of the broadcast shows four anchors talking while everything shakes around them.
All relevant departments were taking measures to ensure the safety of citizens following the earthquake, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said early Saturday. Interior, health and environment ministers were sent to the quake-hit area.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/24/europe/turkey-quake-intl/index.html

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