HONG KONG — A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities Tuesday, killing at least 53 people, Chinese state media reported.
The earthquake, which was recorded just after 9 a.m. (8 p.m. ET Monday), was centered at a depth of nearly 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The tremor, which Chinese authorities recorded as magnitude 6.8, hit Dingri County in Shigatse, a mountainous region in western China that borders Nepal. Shigatse, which is about 240 miles from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, is the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
At least 53 people were killed, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, with 62 others injured. Many houses near the epicenter collapsed and some people were trapped.
About 6,900 people live in more than two dozen villages within about 12 miles of the epicenter, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Chinese authorities have dispatched nearly 1,500 fire and rescue personnel to the area, the broadcaster added. The full extent of the disaster is still being assessed.
Tremors were also felt in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, 250 miles away, where residents were awakened by the tremors.
No damage was immediately reported there.
Earthquakes are common in the Himalayan region, which spans a fault line between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In the past century, there have been 10 earthquakes at magnitude 6 or above within a 150-mile radius of Tuesday’s epicenter, according to USGS.
In 2008, almost 70,000 people were killed in a massive quake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal and damaged almost a million structures, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the country’s history.
