ANKARA - At least seven people were hurt and several buildings were damaged in eastern Turkey Saturday when an earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale shook the region, officials said.
The epicenter of the tremor, which struck at 9:36 am (0736 GMT), was at the town of Karliova in the province of Bingol, according to the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory.
Seven people were hospitalized in the town with minor injuries, Karliova prefect Erkan Capar told Anatolia news agency.
Barns collapsed and animals perished in six villages in the province, Bingol governor Vehbi Avuc said, adding that heavy snowfall in the past two days was causing difficulties in communication with remote villages in the mountainous region.
Quakes of such a magnitude have claimed lives in Turkey.
The tremor caused panic in Karliova, sending residents into snow-covered streets, television footage showed.
A quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale killed 176 people in Bingol province in May 2003, almost half of them children sleeping in a boarding school.
Saturday`s quake was also felt in the neighboring provinces of Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Mus and Tunceli.
In Erzurum, an avalanche triggered by the tremor blocked for several hours the main road linking the same-name provincial capital and the town of Cat, Anatolia reported.
Twenty-eight houses in villages near Cat sustained serious damage, while others had cracks in their walls, the local crisis desk said.
The authorities dispatched search-and-rescue teams to the region, while the Turkish Red Crescent sent tents and other humanitarian supplies.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several seismological faultlines.
03/12/2005 13:05 GMT