A powerful earthquake has hit a wide area in south-eastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, killing dozens of people and trapping many others.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 local time at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep.

In Turkey, officials confirmed more than 50 deaths so far. Ten cities have been hit in Turkey.

In Syria, at least 42 people were killed, state media reported. There are fears the death toll will rise sharply in the coming hours.

Many buildings have collapsed and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors under huge piles of rubble.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleymon Soylu said 10 cities were affected: Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir and Kilis.

In Malatya province, north-east of Gaziantep, at least 23 people were killed, local officials said. In Sanliurfa, to the east, there were 17 deaths.

And more deaths were reported in Diyarbakir and Osmaniye. The tremor was also felt in Lebanon and Cyprus.

Turkish seismologists estimated the strength of the quake to be 7.4 magnitude. They said that a second tremor hit the region just minutes later.

Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. In 1999, more than 17,000 people were killed after a powerful tremor rocked the north-west of the country.