There were conflicting reports about the number of dead. As many as 264 people are dead and 1,300 are injured after Sunday's quake, Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin said Monday. However, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay put the death toll at 239 in a news conference.
It was difficult to tally the number of injured, Health Minister Recep Akdag said, because many were being treated and released.
Turkey's semi-official Anatolian news agency quoted Sahin as saying a total of 970 buildings had collapsed.
The military was assisting with search and rescue efforts, Atalay said.
Numerous aftershocks -- the largest a magnitude 6.0 -- rattled eastern Turkey, one of the nation's poorest areas.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 55 buildings collapsed in Ercis on the north shore of Lake Van. The Turkish Red Crescent said about 25 apartment buildings and a student dormitory collapsed in the town.