Turkey quake toll reaches 36

The death toll from a massive 6.5-magnitude earthquake that jolted eastern Turkey last week has increased to 36 with 1,607 people injured, authorities said.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Sunday that a total of 45 people were rescued from the debris, and search and rescue operations were still going on, Xinhua news agency reported.

The earthquake occurred at 8.55 p.m. on January 24 in the province of Elazig at a depth of 6.75 km and was followed by 788 aftershocks, according to the AFAD.

The analysis of a total of 1,521 constructions in both Elazig and the nearby province of Malatya by experts revealed that at least 76 buildings were fully wrecked, and 645 others were severely damaged, it added.

Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the damages were mostly in the villages of Elazig.

"We will detect the scope of the damage there and launch the construction works quickly," he told reporters.

The AFAD statement also said that some 10,000 tents for families were shipped to the region, and more than 4,200 of them were already installed.

The agency also shared a couple of bank details on its website for those citizens who want to donate money for the earthquake survivors.

This was not the first quake to hit Turkey in 2020.

A 5.4-magnitude quake jolted western province of Manisa on January 22, while Ankara was rattled by a 4.5-magnitude temblor on January 23.