Experts have commented on the powerful earthquake that occurred early Monday morning in Pazarcik region of Turkey’s Kahramanmaras Province.

According to Cumhuriyet daily, seismologist Naci Gorur said that there has not been such a strong quake in the region in the last 500 years.

Gorur emphasized that he gave many warnings about the expected strong earthquake, but no one listened to him. According to him, strong aftershocks are possible, so those living in damaged buildings should leave their homes.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 was recorded in Turkey Monday at 4:17am local time in the Pazarcik region near the city of Kahramanmaras. There were 42 aftershocks, the strongest of which was 6.6 in magnitude. According to the latest data, 284 people were killed and 2,328 others were injured.