58 killed in mountains as earthquake hits Kyrgyzstan

A POWERFUL earthquake in the mountains of Central Asia has killed 58 people and destroyed more than 100 buildings in a village in southern Kyrgyzstan, emergency officials said today.

The quake near the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hit the remote village of Nura in the country's southern Osh region, injuring about 50 people in addition to the deaths and demolishing at least 128 homes.

"Some have been severely injured," said a spokesman for the emergencies ministry. "We are continuing rescue operations to see if anyone may be still buried under the debris."

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties elsewhere.

The quake, which happened last night, had a magnitude of 6.6 and the epicentre was in Kyrgyzstan, the US Geological Survey said.

The government of Kyrgyzstan said, however, the epicentre was in Tajikistan, and it also said that a 5.1 magnitude quake followed early today, a few hours after the initial shock.

The epicentre of the second quake was some 215 miles south of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The quake was felt in the nearest sizeable city, the southern regional centre of Osh.