Eight hurt as earthquake hits eastern Turkey

ANKARA, Aug 11 (AFP) - A moderate earthquake shook eastern Turkey on Wednesday evening, leaving eight people injured and causing minor damage, Anatolia news agency reported quoting local officials.
An official with the Kandilli observatory in Istanbul said the tremor struck at 6:48 pm (1548 GMT) with its epicenter in the province of Elazig, some 720 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Ankara. The quake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale.
The injured came from the village of Kurk, near the city of Elazig.
Anatolia reported that several houses and a mosque were damaged while a television reporter with CNN-Turk news channel said the quake rocked Elazig "like a cradle" sending panicked local people into the streets.
Many were planning to spend the night out of doors.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, where almost 20,000 people were killed in two massive tremors in 1999.