The quake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, struck early in the morning, causing some buildings to collapse and sending hundreds of frightened residents on to the streets.

The state-run Anatolian news agency said at least 30 people had died in Bingol city center and in villages in the area.

Local officials said search and rescue teams were working at a number of damaged and collapsed buildings.

"We have collapsed buildings and people trapped under them. We hope to keep the loss of life to a minimum," Huseyin Cos, governor of Bingol province, told the CNN Turk television channel.

In the capital Ankara, Housing Minister Zeki Ergezen said a large dormitory building for primary school children was among the collapsed buildings where search and rescue teams were assembling.

About 135 Kids Buried

At least 135 children were buried in a collapsed school dormitory after a strong earthquake struck southeastern Turkey, a provincial governor said Thursday.

Gov. Huseyin Avni Cos told private NTV television he did not know if any of the children were killed.

The quake collapsed buildings and sent panicked residents into the streets of several towns, officials said. At least 13 people were reported killed and hundreds of homes destroyed in one village, according to television reports.

The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, struck around 3:30 a.m. and was centered just outside the city of Bingol, about 430 miles east of Ankara, the Kandilli seismology center in Istanbul said. The temblor was felt in several surrounding provinces.

Nihat Bartamay, who was helping the rescue effort in the village of Cimenli, near Bingol, said he had pulled 13 bodies out of several collapsed homes.

"Everything is destroyed. There are no buildings standing," Bartamay said, speaking on private NTV television.

Television footage showed hundreds of people roaming the streets of Cimenli and dozens of mud homes destroyed. A number of strong aftershocks struck the area, including one with a magnitude 5, NTV reported.

"The quake lasted 17 seconds and we think that it was a quake which could cause considerable damage," Gulay Barbarasoglu, head of the observatory, told Turkish state television.

Feyzullah Karaaslan, Bingol's mayor, said the quake had caused cracks in a number of buildings and collapsed others.

Provincial Gov. Huseyin Cos said a dormitory that housed 200 primary and middle school students in Bingol had collapsed. There was no immediate word on the students' fate.

The quake damaged power lines and generating equipment and telephone lines in the area and electricity was cut. Mobile phone service also appeared to be out in Bingol.

(People's Daily May 1, 2003)