A pre-dawn earthquake in Eastern Turkey knocked down homes and barns, killing at least 51 people in five villages, government officials said.

At least 70 people were injured when the earthquake struck at 4:32 a.m. (9 p.m. EST Sunday), officials said. Dozens of aftershocks, measuring up to magnitude 5.5, rattled the region.

According to the Kandilli Seismology Center, the earthquake was a magnitude 6.0 quake. It hit in a remote area of Elazig Province, near the village of Basyurt. The region is about 340 miles east of the capital, Ankara.

The U.S. Geological Survey listed it as a 5.9-magnitude quake.

The damage appeared worst in the Okcular village where most of the homes were destroyed. At least 15 of the 900 residents were killed, the Elazig government said.

“The village is totally flattened,” Hasan Demirdag, Village Administrator said to NTV Television.

Three people died in the village of Yukari Kanatli, 15 died in the village of Yukari Demirci and four others died in both Kayalik and Gocmezler. Ten people died after being taken to the hospital in the town of Kovancilar.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kandilli’s Observatory’s Director, Mustafa Erdik urged residents to stay away from any damaged buildings as they could topple from aftershocks expected to continue days after the quake.