Rescue teams in eastern Turkey are still scrambling to search for survivors as the death toll continues to rise after Friday's powerful earthquake. At least 35 people are now known to have died and more than 1,600 injured, according to emergency officials.

The magnitude-6.8 quake hit the small lakeside town of Sivrice in the eastern Turkish province of Elazig on Friday evening. Turkey's disaster and emergency management agency said the majority of the casualties were in Elazig, with some also in the neighboring province of Malatya.

Residents of Elazig lay on mattresses lining the streets as they preferred to stay outdoors in fear of aftershocks, despite sub-zero temperatures overnight. "Every time it shakes, you get scared. We're forced to rush outside. Earlier, I was doing my ablutions before prayer and suddenly the building started shaking, so we were forced to go outside," Elazig resident Abdi Guney told AFP.

Another resident, Mustafa Top chose to stay away from his home. "We'll wait a week while the aftershocks continue and then we'll do a check (of our apartment)."

Turkey's disaster and emergency management agency said 43 people had been rescued alive from collapsed buildings in Elazig, while an estimated 19 others remained trapped in the rubble.

Eray Ernek described to AFP how he was watching television when the quake took place. "I was on the sofa and then fell on the floor. My sleeping father was woken up."

"After we found a way out, we broke the door and got out. We saw other houses had collapsed," said Ernek.

Television footage showed the extent of the damage caused in several towns and cities around the epicenter of the quake.

Officials said 28 rescue teams were working around the clock under the threat of aftershocks. More than 1,300 personnel from 39 of Turkey's 81 provinces were sent to the disaster site.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said all measures were being taken to "ensure that the earthquake that occurred in Elazig and was felt in many provinces is overcome with the least amount of loss."

Sports centers, schools, mosques and guest houses were opened to house victims of the quake, with tents, beds and blankets being distributed as temperatures drop across the country.

Turkey sits on top of two major fault lines meaning the country is prone to earthquakes. In 2010, a magnitude-6 earthquake killed 51 people in Elazig. 

A devastating 7.4 magnitude earthquake also hit Turkey in 1999, leaving 18,000 people dead, including 1,000 in the country's largest city and popular tourist destination Istanbul.