The strong earthquake that jolted Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu left at least 11 people dead and another eight missing on Southeast Asia's highest peak, a government official said Saturday.

"As at noon time, 11 bodies have been recovered (2 identified) and eight people are still missing," Masidi Manjun, the tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, said on his Twitter feed.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, early Friday, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from the 4,095-metre (13,435-foot) peak's wide, jagged crown.