Turkey's state-run television said a group of inmates have escaped from a prison in Turkey's quake-hit region.

State-run TRT television said the inmates fled after a powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, October 23.

No other detail was including the number of inmates who fled was provided, AP reported.

The quake hit Turkey's mountainous eastern region with an epicenter in the village of Tabanli, 10 miles (17km) from Van, according to the US Geological Survey.

According to Today’s Zaman, Turkish Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin said at least 217 killed and more than 1,000 people injured when a powerful earthquake struck Turkey, collapsing dozens of buildings and pulling down phone and power lines in the southeast of the country. More than 1,000 people are feared killed in the earthquake.