A devastating earthquake in China's remote Tibet region killed at least 53 people and collapsed "many buildings" on Tuesday, state media reported, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal's capital Kathmandu and parts of India.
The powerful quake struck Dingri county with a magnitude of 6.8 near the border with Nepal at 9:05 am (0105 GMT), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The US Geological Survey reported the tremor as magnitude 7.1.
"Fifty-three people have been confirmed dead and 62 injured as of Tuesday noon, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in the city of Xigaze in Xizang Autonomous Region at 9:05 am Tuesday," Xinhua news agency said.
Over 1,000 houses have sustained varying degrees of damage, it added.
"Dingri county and its surrounding areas experienced very strong tremors, and many buildings near the epicentre have collapsed," state broadcaster CCTV said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday emphasised "the full-scale search and rescue efforts, minimizing casualties to the greatest extent possible, properly resettling affected residents, and ensuring their safety and warmth through the winter", CCTV added.
Xinhua said that "local authorities are reaching out to various townships in the county to assess the impact of the quake".
Temperatures in Dingri are around minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and will drop to minus 18 this evening, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Disaster relief aid, including cotton tents, quilts and items for high-altitude and frigid areas, had been dispatched by central authorities to areas impacted by the quake, Xinhua said.
The high-altitude county in the Tibet region is home to around 62,000 people and situated on the Chinese side of Mount Everest.
While earthquakes are common in the region, Tuesday's quake was the most powerful recorded within a 200-kilometre radius in the last five years, the CENC added.
As well as Kathmandu, areas around Lobuche in Nepal in the high mountains near Everest were also rattled by the tremor and aftershocks. "It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake," said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Nepal's Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest. But no damage or deaths had been reported so far and security forces had been deployed, Nepali Home Minister spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari said.
Update 20250108
Thousands of rescuers were searching for survivors in freezing conditions Wednesday after a devastating earthquake in China's remote Tibet region killed at least 126 people.
At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured in the Tuesday morning quake that struck rural, high-altitude Tingri county, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Mount Everest near China's border with Nepal. More than 3,600 houses have collapsed and over 30,000 residents have been relocated, the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that the search for trapped victims is ongoing.
"Rescuers are also racing against time to set up tents for relocated residents in an area where temperatures are forecast to drop," it added.
The temperature in Tingri is currently minus 11 degrees Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit), according to the China Meteorological Administration. The county sits at an average altitude of 4,500 metres (14,800 feet) above sea level.