Around 100 more were injured as the tremor, which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, tore down mud-brick houses in remote villages in Elazig province.
Rescuers’ bid to dig survivors from the rubble was also hindered by 20 aftershocks, the strongest measuring 4.1.
The hardest-hit villages, near the town of Kovancilar, were Okcular, Yukari Kanatli and Kayali.
No other deaths have been reported outside of these settlements since the first tremor struck at 4.32am (2.32am in Britain).
The effect of the quake was particularly devastating as the epicentre was only three miles beneath the Earth's surface, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.
Also, the flimsy housing, which is the only option for many of the rural poor in the region, also helped raise the death toll.
Elazig governor Muammer Erol said: ‘Villages consisting mainly of mud-brick houses have been damaged, but we have minimal damage such as cracks in buildings made of cement or stone.’
In the worst-hit village of Okcular, a mountain settlement that is home to 900 people, some 30 houses were demolished, according to rescue team leader Yasar Cagribay.
Residents wailed as the bodies of 17 people killed by the tremor were pulled from the houses. At least four of the dead there were four young sisters.
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