Quake in Turkey; over 600 dead

At least 40 people died in Istanbul. Hundreds of others were injured while trying to jump from balconies in panic or by falling masonry.

Officials expect the figure to rise as they are yet to establish contact with some areas in the worst-hit region of northwestern Anatolia. A state of emergency has been declared in several provinces across western and central Turkey.

Reports have yet to come from the worst hit city Izmit, about 90 km 55 miles southeast of Istanbul. Initial reports said at least 100 deaths were reported Ingolcuk town, 80 in Sakarya, 30 in Yalova, 28 in Bolu, 7 in Bursa and 7 in Eskisehir.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit after convening a crisis centre set off to visit the worst affected areas. Before leaving he informed the media that 20 sailors were killed and 250 were believed to be trapped under rubble at the Golcuk naval base, 130 km southeast of Istanbul.

quot;There is chaos all around at the moment. We are not yet able to receive any information from anywhere on possible casualties and damages. We have set up a crisis desk here,quot; a government official told Reuters.

Germany, which has the largest Turkish population, sent salvage teams with sniffer dogs and also offered aid to Ankara. The United States has also offered aid, said US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson who was in Istanbul during the quake.

quot;Our hotel building shook dramatically,quot; Richardson told CNN.

The quake caught the sleeping residents in Istanbul unawares as several buildings collapsed trapping them under the debris. Hundreds rushed out of their houses in panic only to be trapped under falling concretes.

quot;Tell me my children are alive,quot; wailed Muzaffar Yarla, as survivors clawed at the rubble of their homes to search for their loved ones.

quot;It was very powerful. We were shaken out of our beds. Everyone is now out in the streets,quot; said resident Mehmet Cankaya. One woman, half-trapped under the rubble, cried out for her fiance as fire crews tried to free the wreckage above her.

In Izmit, witnesses said rescue teams were struggling to reach residents buried under dozens of collapsed buildings. Minarets from mosques toppled and roads to the town were blocked by hundreds of people fleeing. Television pictures showed a dazed mother cradling the lifeless body of her son.

A major oil refinery in Izmit operated by the state-owned petroleum company Tupras, caught fire.

In the town of Tuzla, east of Istanbul, a construction worker stood beside the ruins of the apartment block, as residents pulled bricks away from the rubble and twisted metal.

quot;My friend Saban was calling out for help from under the debris. But for a while now there has been no sound,quot; cried 30-year-old Birol Lule, a builder.

Last year, more than 140 people died in southern Turkey in an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale.