Fifty-seven injured after quake hits Turkish resort

Fifty-seven people have been treated in hospital for injuries after an earthquake registering 6 on the Richter scale hit the Turkish Mediterranean resort of Fethiye Sunday, dpa reported.

Turkey's state news agency Anatolian reported that 52 of those hurt were in Fethiye itself, with five people hurt in nearby towns. Two people reportedly suffered heart attacks.

Anatolian also reported a number of lucky escapes, including the inhabitants of one two-storey house who escaped unscathed when a rock fell 400 metres from a nearby mountain onto their roof.

The quake hit at 3:44 pm local time (1244 GMT) and was centred on the Oludeniz district of Fethiye - a resort popular with tourists from northern Europe.

None of those treated were reported as being tourists.

Turkey's Kandilli earthquake observatory, which operates a live internet feed of regional seismic activity, reported a total of 60 aftershocks by 9 pm, measuring between 2.1 and 4.9 on the Richter scale.

The tremor was felt on the Greek island of Rhodes, with the Greek authorities reporting the epicentre as being 70 kilometres east of the island and at a magnitude of between 5.9 and 6.

"It was terrible," Christos Pilatakis, chief executive of a hotel in the resort of Lindos told dpa from Rhodes by phone. "Everyone ran out onto the street. But here in the hotel nothing is damaged."

Residents of Oludeniz, speaking live on Turkey's state TV news channel TRT Haber, spoke of a severe tremor lasting several seconds, but reported no major damage to buildings. The local governor's office and police said no injuries or fatalities had been reported.

The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred 20 kilometres below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea and gave its magnitude as 5.7 on the Richter scale.