At least 217 people have been confirmed dead in the aftermath of a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Turkey, while monitors have recorded over a hundred aftershocks, one of which was at 6.0 magnitude, strong enough to create more damages.

A hundred people died in Van province and 117 in the Ercis district, Turkish interior minister Idris Naim Sahin told reporters early Monday.

A total of 1,090 were reported to be injured, so far.

The US Geological Survey initially said the Turkey earthquake struck with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 but later confirmed it was 7.2.

The hardest-hit areas are the city of Ercis to the east and Van province to the south. Major roads in these areas have been badly ruined, while flights were diverted from Van's airport due to quake damages, too.

"Normally quakes happen 30 to 40 kilometers deep -- this is less than 10 kilometers, therefore there will be more damage," Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, said in televised comments.

Officials earlier said 80 buildings collapsed due to the quake.

State-run TRT has reported around 150 inmates had fled when a prison cell's wall collapsed, but report updates said many of those who fled returned.

Turkey, which lies atop several fault lines, has seen many thousands of earthquake deaths in the past, but this is the country's most powerful in over a decade. In 1999, two very strong quakes in northwest Turkey killed 20,000 people. In 1976, a strong earthquake also in Van province killed 3,840.

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