Colombo (News 1st) – A massive earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck southcentral Turkey and northern Syria early Monday (6th) killing over 500 people and injuring more than 2,000.

The quake was felt in at least a dozen countries, with buildings shaking as far away as Romania, Iraq and Egypt.

The epicenter was west of the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria at 4:17 a.m. local time. It is the strongest earthquake in the region since 1939.

Turkey reported over 284 deaths across seven provinces while Syria reported 237 deaths in three provinces. Hundreds of buildings have collapsed and a large number of fires are raging as rescuers dig through the rubble in the grim hope of finding trapped survivors.

The quake occurred at a triple juncture of three of the Earth's tectonic plates – the Anatolian, Arabian and African.

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