Death toll in Turkish earthquake reaches 42
The powerful earthquake which toppled scores of buildings in central Turkey, has killed at least 42 people.
Around 150 people are injured as thousands flee their homes.
Authorities say they do not expect the death toll to climb dramatically.
The quake, which registered six on the Richter scale, was far less powerful than the two massive earthquakes which killed 18,000 people in 1999.
"Because today is Sunday and shops are closed, a huge disaster was avoided," said Public Works Minister Abdulkadir Akcan.
Deputy Governor Halil Ibrahim Turkoglu, of the central Anatolian Afyon province, said at least 42 people had been killed and that more than 150 buildings in the stricken area had collapsed. The most seriously damaged buildings were shops and public offices.
The worst hit city was Sultandagi, some 18 miles south of the town of Bolvadin, the quake's epicentre.
The quake caused 15 buildings and the minarets of four mosques to collapse in Bolvadin, about a three-hour drive from the capital Ankara.
The government - accused in the past of reacting too slowly to natural disasters - immediately sent 3,000 blankets and 1,000 tents to the region, and troops set up tent cities to house the homeless, private NTV television reported.
Forecasters said temperatures would likely drop below freezing overnight.
