Turkish official said that 37 people were slightly injured and several houses suffered minor damage when an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 hit the Karliova town in eastern province of Bingol on Monday.

Three search and rescue teams from neighboring Erzurum province were sent to the quake-stricken area, semi-official Anatolia News Agency reported.

Turkish Red Crescent office in Erzurum sent 109 tents and 750 blankets to the region.

The earthquake occurred at 10:41 local time and the epicenter was in Karliova town of Bingol province, said Bogazici University's Kandilli Observatory and Seismology Institute.

The quake was also felt in neighboring cities and towns where people took to the streets in panic.

Quakes are frequent in Turkey, which lies atop the active North Anatolian fault. Two devastating earthquakes killed about 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey in 1999.

Source: Xinhua