Numerous Earthquakes Rock Central Asia

At least 60 people killed, 100 injured and dozens of buildings destroyed at Nura. Felt (II) at Bishkek. Also felt (II) at Almaty, Kazakhstan. Felt at Kashi, China; Islamabad, Pakistan; Gharm and Khorugh, Tajikistan; Toshkent, Uzbekistan.

The death toll in the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that hit southern Kyrgyzstan last night rose to 65, the Emergency Ministry said on Monday.

More than 50 people were also injured in the devastating quake that wrecked dozens of homes in the rural and mountainous southern province of Osh of the Central Asian state, the ministry said, adding that rescue workers were still searching for survivors under the rubble.

The epicentre of the quake was located 65 km southeast of Sary-Tash, a village at the corner of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China, the US Geological Survey said.

A powerful earthquake struck the mountains of Central Asia, destroying a village in Kyrgyzstan and killing at least 72 people, emergency officials said Monday.

The 6.6-magnitude quake near the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hit the remote village of Nura hard, bringing down dozens of buildings and injuring more than 100 people in addition to the confirmed deaths, Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiyev said.

"What we've seen is terrible, the village of Nura is completely destroyed — 100 percent," Tashiyev said.

At least 30 people are said to have been killed in two earthquakes that struck Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and surrounding areas, Chinese state media reports.

According to the US Geological Survey, the first earthquake on Monday measured 6.6 on the Richter Scale and struck at 4.30pm (0830 GMT), 80km west of Lhasa.

The second tremor, measuring 5.1, hit about 15 minutes later, approximately 96km west of Lhasa.

The Xinhua news agency said that 30 people had died after the first quake struck, and that houses had collapsed near the epicentre.

An earthquake of moderate strength shook central Afghanistan in the wee hours of Monday when people in the capital city of Kabul also felt the trembling of glass-windows and doors.

There has been no report of life or property losses yet from local authorities.

A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 degrees on the Richter scale hit Wuqia County, or Ulugqia County, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Northwest China, on Sunday, at 23:52 pm, according to the National Seismological Network.

The epicenter was located in Wuqia, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, with its epicenter 110 kilometers away from the county town of Wuqia (N.39.5 and E.73.9), 180 kilometers from Kashi City,10 kilometers from the Chinese border. The source of the earthquake was 33 kilometers underground.

Residents in Kashi also felt the strong earthquake, Xinhua reporter in Xinjiang said. There have been no reports of casualties so far.