The death toll from a powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey climbed to 22 on Saturday, as rescuers searched for survivors trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

The magnitude 6.8 quake late Friday shook Elazig province,  about 550 km east of the capital Ankara, and was followed by 401 aftershocks, 14 of which had magnitudes over 4, according to Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Authority (AFAD).

"It was very scary, furniture fell on top of us," 47-year-old Melahat Can told AFP. Can lives in Elazig, a city around 30 kilometers from Sivrice. "We will spend the coming days in a farmhouse outside the city," she said.

Turkey is seismically active with major fault lines under much of the country. USGS says it has suffered more than a half dozen magnitude 6 or larger earthquakes in the last half century.

In August 1999, a deadly 7.4 magnitude quake left 17,000 dead, though media reports say the actual death toll could have been double that.