A powerful earthquake has hit a wide area in south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing more than 500 people and trapping many others, BBC reports.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time (01:17 GMT) at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.

Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said the death toll in Turkey had now risen to 284 people.

In Syria, more than 230 people were killed, state media reported.

The Syrian health ministry said people had died in the provinces of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus.

There are fears the number of deaths will rise sharply in the coming hours.

Many buildings have collapsed and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors under huge piles of rubble.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

In Malatya province, north-east of Gaziantep, at least 23 people were killed, local officials said. In Sanliurfa, to the east, there were 17 deaths. And more deaths were reported in Diyarbakir and Osmaniye.

At least 2,323 people were injured in Turkey and 639 in Syria.

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