DAMASCUS - The Syrian health ministry said at least 326 people were killed and 1,042 others injured in the country when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Syria and Turkiye early on Monday.

The ministry's casualties, however, do not cover the rebel-held areas in Idlib Province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-rebel Britain-based watchdog, said 150 people were killed by the earthquake in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

The Syrian government has set up a 24-hour central operation center to coordinate earthquake relief operations, with all relevant ministries, institutions and authorities on alert, state news agency SANA reported.

The central operation center was led by Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.

Historic sites in Syria were affected, as parts of the Ottoman mill in the Citadel of Aleppo fell and the defensive walls have cracks, said the antiquities and museums directorate.

Inside the Citadel whose entrances were damaged, large parts of the dome of the lighthouse of the Ayyubid mosque also fell, while the facade of the Ottoman hospice was damaged, the directorate added.

"This earthquake is the strongest since 1995," said Raed Ahmed, director general of the National Seismological Center.