"According to the information that I was given, between 150 and 200 of our citizens are trapped under rubble," Erdogan said in Bingol, where he was overseeing rescue efforts, Anatolia news agency reported.

The majority of the trapped were children who were asleep in their dormitories at a boarding school in the Bingol suburbs when the earthquake struck early Thursday.

About 100 pupils remained under tons of concrete.

Erdogan said the country did not yet need international assistance to cope with the disaster.

"The (Turkish) Red Crescent received such offers, but at present there is no such need. Turkey is able to handle it," he said.

Dozens of rescuers as well as soldiers rushed to Bingol after the quake to dig for survivors.

SPACE.WIRE