At least 217 were killed and more than 1,000 people injured after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey's Van province Sunday, Turkish Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said Monday.

Rescuers work to save people trapped under debris after an earthquake in Ercis, near the eastern Turkish city of Van, Oct. 24, 2011. (Xinhua/Anatolia News Agency)
Quoted by Turkey's newspaper Hurriyet Daily News, Sahin said that in the city of Ercis alone about 80 multistory buildings collapsed when the earthquake struck on Sunday.

He added that some 40 buildings still had people trapped inside, giving rise to fears that the death toll could increase substantially. The minister did not give any estimates.

Sahin said that Sunday's quake, the worst to hit the country since 1999, left 100 people dead in the city of Van in Van province and another 117 dead in the worst-hit town of Ercis, located in the same province.

Sahin, who is in charge of emergency operations in Ercis, said a total of 1,090 people were known to have been injured.

Hundreds of rescue teams worked throughout the night searching for survivors among dozens of pancaked buildings, as aid groups scrambled to set up tents, field hospitals and kitchens to assist thousands left homeless.

"Rescue work is ongoing, especially at buildings where ( rescuers) have determined survivors," Sahin said.

A total of 275 rescue teams from 38 Turkish provinces have reached Van province, Turkey's TRT television quoted the prime minister's office as saying.

The Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute originally put the magnitude of Sunday's earthquake at 6. 6 on the Richter scale, but later revised it up to 7.2.

Turkey, lying atop the North Anatolian fault, has been plagued by earthquakes frequently. On March 8, 2010, at least 38 people died and dozens of others were injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Elazig province in eastern Turkey.

On Aug. 17, 1999, two powerful earthquakes, measuring 6.7 and 7. 4 on the Richter scale respectively, hit northwestern and western Turkey, killing about 18,000 people and affecting hundreds of thousands of others.

A major earthquake hit Van province in November 1976, with 5, 291 confirmed dead. The province has a population of just over 1 million.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet