Soldiers and police officers fired dozens of rounds in the air with automatic rifles as many protestors threw themselves on the ground, a footage on NTV news channel showed.

A police vehicle drove into the crowd, leaving two people injured, according to Anatolia news agency.

Several hundred people had gathered in front of the office of the Bingol governor to ask for tents following an earthquake the previous day, which has so far left more than 100 people dead and 500 others injured.

Local people have been told to keep out of damaged buildings as aftershocks continued to jolt the region.

Officials assured the protestors that relief efforts would be increased, but the angry crowd refused to disperse and chanted anti-government slogans while several protestors attempted to storm into the building, triggering the intervention of the secuity forces, NTV said.

The unrest ended when the crowd agreed to send representatives to discuss their needs with officials, a parliament member overseeing the relief efforts told NTV from Bingol.

"Things are under control," Fevzi Berdibek said.

Bingol is an impoverished region populated mainly by Kurds.

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