A strong earthquake shook southeastern Turkey today, injuring 15 people and damaging some 150 houses.
The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.7, struck this morning and was centered in Karliova, a town in rural Bingol province, 430 miles east of Ankara, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.
Provincial Gov. Vehbi Avuc of Bingol said the quake caused damage in Karliova and six villages in the region. "There is no loss of life," Avuc told private NTV television.
Local Gov. Erkan Capar of Karliova said some 120 houses in the town were damaged. He said 28 other houses were damaged in six nearby villages and that 15 people were reported injured overall.
The government sent tents, blankets and other relief to the snow covered area, where some villages were cut off by heavy snowfall.
The quake caused an avalanche that partially blocked the main highway between the city of Erzurum and the town of Cat, and was felt in several neighboring provinces, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which lies atop active fault lines. Two massive quakes killed some 18,000 people in 1999. A magnitude 6.4 quake also killed 177 people in the Bingol province in 2003.