Turkish private NTV news channel reported that many people were trapped under the buildings and rescue workers could be seen searching through the rubble.

Six-storied Bayram Hotel collapsed in Marsal Fevzi Cakmak Street in the center of Van city, said NTV news channel, adding that 11 people have been pulled out of the rubble.

Search and rescue teams and ambulances were dispatched to the Bayram Hotel after the building collapsed in the quake.

Journalists and officials from the Turkish Red Crescent (Kzlay) were reportedly staying in the collapsed hotel. There was no immediate information about casualties.

Early the same day, an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook the Kaustuk village of Adilcevaz town of Bitlis province in eastern Turkey.

On October 23, a 7.2-magnitude quake jolted eastern province of Van, killing 605 people and injuring 4,152 others while 188 people were pulled out alive from the rubble.