The primary school was situated in Celtiksuyu, he said.

Rescue work was underway to pull out the survivors from the wreckage of the school a dozen kilometres (seven miles) from the provincial capital, Bingol Governor Avni Cos said, quoted by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Turkey is crossed by several active faultlines including one in northern Anatolia which caused the death of more than 20,000 people in quakes in August and November 1999 east of the Marmara Sea.

SPACE.WIRE