Kovancilar, Turkey -- A strong earthquake killed at least 51 villagers in a remote part of eastern Turkey before dawn on Monday, officials said, and aftershocks continued for hours after while rescuers searched for trapped survivors.

People were sleeping in their mud-brick houses when the 6.0-magnitude quake struck at 4:32 am local time in a sparsely-populated area of high steppe in Eastern Anatolia.

On Monday night, families huddled in the open around fires lit to keep them warm, as the ground shook with more than 40 aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.5.

Covered in blankets, locals tried to keep warm in cold weather while women served tea, to make the conditions more bearable.

As the search and rescue operation officially ended, Turkish Red Crescent deployed tents to the area, for the villagers, who lost their homes and the ones whose houses are damaged by the quake.

"I grabbed my children and ran out of my home. What I see was all the houses were demolished in village. People were shouting and crying while trapped under the rubble. We can not sleep at our house. They gave us a tent, now we have to sleep in the tent" says Abdulltayyip Cicek who is having a chat with friends nearby, while a woman mourns for their losses inside the tents.

The quake toppled the minarets of three mosques in stricken villages in the Basyurt region of Elazig, according to provincial governor Muammer Erol.

Turkey is criss-crossed with faultlines and frequently suffers earthquakes. A large earthquake measuring 7.4 killed about 18,000 people in August 1999.