The earthquake struck at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres (11 miles) at 4:17 a.m. local time, 23 kilometres from the city of Nurtaki in Gaziantep Province, Turkey. It registered 7.8 on the Richter scale. The US Geological Survey reported another 6.7 aftershock 15 minutes after the quake. Residential buildings collapsed due to the earthquake. It has been revealed that 53 people died in the rubble. It is said that many people may have died when the earthquake occurred while people were sleeping in the buildings. So the death toll is expected to rise further. Rescuers are engaged in rescuing people trapped in the rubble of damaged houses.