A 7.3 magnitude earthquake in eastern Turkey today has killed 500 to 1,000 people, the head of a seismological institute in Istanbul said Sunday.

"500 to 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the quake," Professor Mustafa Erdik, director of the Kandilli seismological institute in Istanbul, told a news conference.

The strong quake struck the eastern Turkish city of Van, leaving dozens of people injured after several buildings collapsed, officials said.

Around 40 buildings including a dormitory collapsed in the city and surrounding area, Interior Minister Besir Atalay told reporters.

Earthquake-prone Turkey lies atop several fault lines.

Two strong quakes in the heavily populated and industrialised northwestern regions claimed some 20,000 lives in 1999.

And a powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people in 1976.

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