The quake measured magnitude 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and flattened the village of Nura in the isolated Alaisky district on the mountainous border.

The ministry said the quake had flattened 120 of the 428 houses in the village high in the mountains of southern Kyrgyzstan close to the Chinese border.

Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiyev told journalists that more than 100 people "were injured to various degrees."

The quake hit at 9:52 p.m. and was felt as far away as the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, some 900km from Nura.

"The picture we saw was frightening. The village of Nura is fully destroyed, 100 percent. There are many injured. So far we have counted 60 dead. All of them are local residents," Tashiyev said, before his ministry updated the toll.

He added that it would take time for the final number of dead and injured.

The USGS said the epicenter of the earthquake was 60km east-southeast of Sary-Tash at a depth of 27.6km. An aftershock of magnitude 5.1 hit the region just over two hours later, the USGS said.

Meanwhile at least 30 people were killed in the strong earthquake that struck China's Himalayan region of Tibet yesterday, state media reported, citing local government sources.

The earthquake struck at 4:30 p.m. in a sparsely populated area about 84km west of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the USGS said.

U.S. seismologists initially put the magnitude of the quake at 6.6, but later revised that down to 6.3. Several aftershocks followed in Tibet, with one measuring 5.4.

Xinhua, quoting local government officials, said many houses in Damxung county -- home to about 42,000 people -- near the quake's epicenter had collapsed, and that “more people were still buried in debris.”

More deaths were reported in a neighbouring county, Xinhua said, adding that an exact figure was not available.