ANKARA, Mar 8 - At least 51 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that struck eastern Turkey early on Monday, a local official said.

"The number of dead has reached 51," an official from a crisis desk at the governor's office in Elazig province, told AFP by telephone.

The victims perished in several villages near Karakocan town which lies close to epicentre of the quake which had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale.

About 100 people were injured, according to the emergency situations agency in Ankara.