Eighteen people were killed and 27 injured when an earthquake hit remote villages in the eastern Turkish province of Agri today, devastating the local stone and earth houses.
Soldiers worked with residents to rescue people trapped in the rubble and set up tents and mobile kitchens for those made homeless, Anatolian news agency said.
Istanbul's Kandilli Observatory said the quake measured 5.1 on the Richter scale. A series of aftershocks shook the region.
An official at the local governor's office said the village of Yigincal, with about 100 houses, suffered severe damage in the quake, which struck three villages in Dogubayazit district near the Iranian border at 2230 GMT.
Energy Minister Hilmi Guler flew to the area by helicopter and joined locals in a funeral ceremony for 15 of those killed in Yigincal. He pledged to help those affected by the quake. The prime minister and president sent condolence messages to the governor. "
The remote Dogubayazit area is a destination for adventurous travellers who come to visit Mount Ararat and palace ruins on a hill near the main district town.
The Red Crescent aid organisation said it had sent 500 tents and 500 blankets to the area along with two mobile kitchens. A 26-strong search-and-rescue team was also sent to the area with a sniffer dog.
Agri Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir told CNN Turk television he did not think the death toll would rise, because it was summer. Many northeasterners move to homes in the mountains in summer months to escape the heat.
"The search and rescue is finished... There is no one in the rubble. These are not buildings that can withstand earthquakes, they are made of earth and stone. Some of the houses are made of concrete and those are fine," Yavuzdemir said.
Earthquakes are common in Turkey, which is criss-crossed by geological fault lines. Nine people were killed and dozens injured when a quake of the same magnitude hit Erzurum province in eastern Turkey in March. A massive quake in August 1999 killed some 18,000 people in an industrial area of northwestern Turkey.