Shafaq News/ At least 912 people died in Turkey from a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck early Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, sharply revising up earlier figures.

With at least 326 people also dying in government-controlled parts of Syria, this puts death toll of the region's most powerful tremor in nearly a century at more than 1,200.

Syrian state media said that at least 326 people have been killed by the earthquake in government-controlled parts of the war-torn country.

The official news agency SANA said at least another 1,042 people were injured after the earthquake struck near the southwestern Turkish city of Gaziantep, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Syrian border.