Search-and-rescue operations in remote villages in eastern Turkey were called off on Monday, some eight hours after a powerful quake hit the region, claiming at least 57 lives, officials said.
"According to the information we have, no one remains under the rubble. The work has been ended," an official from a crisis desk at the governor's office in Elazig province, told AFP by telephone.
Provincial governor Muammer Erol also said that "no one now remains under the debris", in remarks carried by Anatolia news agency.
The crisis desk official said they would announce later how many people had been pulled alive from the rubble.
The tremor, which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, struck at 4.32am (1332 AEDT), razing dozens of mud-brick houses and killing whole families in their sleep. More than 50 people were injured.
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