Turkey hit by moderate earthquake

A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 shook eastern Turkey on Monday, demolishing barns and causing some damage to mud-brick homes at a village in its epicentre, officials said. The quake struck the village of Sultani, in the eastern province of Mus at 1.35pm (1135 GMT), said Turkey's Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory seismology centre. Ziya Akkaya, the mayor for the nearby town of Bulanik, told private NTV television that some barns and animal feed storages in Sultanli tumbled down. The quake also damaged a number of mud-brick homes, but there were no reports of any casualties, he said. State-run television TRT said the quake was felt in neighbouring provinces. Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, much of which lies atop active fault lines. At least 644 people were killed in two earthquakes that hit the nearby province of Van in October and November.