A major earthquake of 7.9 magnitude killed scores of people in southern Türkiye on Monday and was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria.

 

Dozens of buildings collapsed and search for survivors under the rubble in snowy streets, Reuters said.

 

Turkish authorities scrambled rescue teams and supply aircraft to the region around the city of Kahramanmaras, while declaring a "level 4 alarm" that calls for international assistance.

 

Early statements by officials suggested the death toll was at least 78 in different provinces of Türkiye. South across the border in Syria, state media said 99 had been killed.

 

"I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I've lived," said Erdem, a resident of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the quake's epicentre.

 

It was still too dark to see the nature of the damage, he added.

 

The tremor lasted about a minute and shattered windows, according to a Reuters witness in Diyarbakir, 350 km (218 miles) to the east, where a security official said at least 17 buildings collapsed.

 

The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centred north of the city of Gaziantep about 90 km from the Syrian border.