A powerful earthquake struck Eastern Turkey on Sunday just miles from Iran amid early reports of dozens dead but estimates by scientists of up to 1,000 buildings damaged and 500 to 1,000 dead.

The 7.2 magnitude quake was the most powerful in the country in at least the last decade.

Reuters reported more than 20 aftershocks had occurred.

Kandilli Observatory general manager Mustafa Erdik estimated 1,000 buildings are damaged and hundreds have died.

“It could be 500 or 1,000,” he said.

The quake struck at 10:41 GMT, with its epicenter at the village of Tabani, about 20 kilometers north of Van City, Kandilli said.

Citizens searched for survivors amid the rubble of collapsed buildings, according to CNN.

Emergency workers searched in the city of Van and surrounding districts on the banks of Lake Van, near Turkey’s border with Iran, according to Reuters.

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told reporters 10 buildings collapsed in Van city and about 25-30 buildings fell in the district of Ercis, according to Reuters.

TRT television reported that 45 people were killed and 150 injured in Ercis, while 15 others died in Van.