ISTANBUL: A fresh earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck southern Turkiye on Monday afternoon, the country's disaster agency said.

The strong quake, which struck at 1.24 pm (2100GMT), was centred in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras, according to the the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

The tremor occurred at a depth of seven kilometres, reported Anadolu Agency.

General director of earthquake and risk reduction at AFAD, Orhan Tatar, said there is a serious earthquake activity in the region and aftershocks up to 6.5 - 6.7 in magnitude will continue.

Early Monday morning, a strong 7.8 earthquake jolted Kahramanmaras and heavily affected several provinces including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis.

Following the first quake, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at least 912 people were killed and 5,385 others injured in 10 provinces.

-- BERNAMA