9 dead after magnitude 5.9 quake rattles Turkey-Iran border

At least nine people died and 37 others were injured in eastern Turkey on Sunday after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck near the Iranian border region, the country's health minister said.

Tremors from the quake that centered in the northwestern Iranian city of Khoy were also felt in Turkey's Van province.

Fahrettin Koca said the condition of nine of the injured is serious.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said some buildings were damaged in various villages in the Başkale district of the province.

He added the most damage-prone constructions in the area were mud houses which locals built.

The interior minister also briefed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about the search and rescue efforts, according to Turkey's Communications Directorate.

Meanwhile, after the earthquake, a total of 24 aftershocks occurred, two of them over 4.0 magnitude, said Turkey's National Disaster and Management Authority (AFAD) in a statement.

AFAD said search and rescue teams and security forces were immediately sent to the region.

The needed aids were also dispatched to the region, it added.

"Initially, 16.5-square-meter (177.6-square-foot) 1,160 tents, 28-square-meter (301.3-square-foot) 120 tents, also 6,120 blankets, 616 beds and 1,000 electric heaters were dispatched to the region," it said.

Iran and Turkey are among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. Last month, an earthquake in the eastern Turkish province of Elazığ killed more than 40 people.