Nearly 300 people died, thousands of people slept outside in the cold

Thousands of people had to sleep the second night outdoors in the freezing cold after the 7.2-magnitude quake on Sunday, leaving at least 279 people dead, hundreds of buildings collapsed.

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Turkey began burying the ill-fated people in the earthquake.

Rescue teams continue to search for survivors under the ruins of collapsed buildings.

Bulent Arinc, deputy prime minister, said 279 people were killed and 1,300 wounded, mostly in Van and Ecris cities, near the Iranian border.

The number of people killed has increased, as hundreds of people are still missing.

The number of people killed also increased as hundreds of people still went missing.

According to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office, 970 buildings in the earthquake area were destroyed. Mr. Erdogan visited the area on Sunday and said many villages, built with mud bricks, were wiped out almost completely.

Ercis, the city with about 75,000 inhabitants, suffered the most damage, with about 80 buildings collapsed. Most collapsed buildings are apartment buildings, with dozens of people missing in each location.

Hundreds of buildings collapsed.

Both Ercis and the larger Van city are located on the plateau surrounded by snow-capped mountains. When winter is approaching, the temperature at night falls below 0 degrees.

Rescue workers said the opportunity for survivors of the rubble after the second night was disappearing.

Rescue workers are still urgently looking for survivors in the rubble.

Despite the weather difficulties, lack of equipment, 5 people were taken out of the wreckage of a collapsed building in Ercis on Monday, after a mobile phone user called for help.

Another man was rescued late yesterday, about 30 hours after the earthquake.

200 aftershocks attack the area

Thousands of people slept outside during the second night, in the middle of a cold below 0 degrees C.

About 2,400 relief workers were involved in relief activities. The Turkish Red Crescent Foundation established camps at Van and at a stadium in Ercis, but many areas still complain that they have not received relief.

Erdogan thanked other countries for asking for help, but he said Turkey could deal with the disaster itself.

Tents are set up at the stadium in Ercis.

The earthquake happened at 11:41 am on Sunday, below 20 km and with the epicenter of northeastern Van, eastern Turkey, about 16 km, the US Geological Survey said. In addition, after the earthquake, about 200 aftershocks attacked the area, including a strong aftershock of 6.0 richter.