Tibet earthquake: At least 120 killed as 6.8 magnitude tremor shakes China and Nepal

Monitoring agency says shock was most powerful reported within 200km radius of city of Shigatse in five years

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 120 people and injured 130 injured in China's autonomous region of Tibet on Tuesday morning, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

The 6.8 magnitude tremor struck at 9.05am in Dinggye county, near the city of Shigatse, the second most populous city and one of the holiest cities in Tibet. It is the seat of Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.

The epicentre was about 75km north-east of Mount Everest, which straddles the Nepal-Tibet border. Pressure between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates can cause shocks in the Himalayan mountain range strong enough to change the elevations of some of the world’s tallest peaks.

Destroyed homes in Tonglai village in Dinggye county, Tibet, after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday. Xinhua / AP

China’s Earthquake Networks Centre in Beijing said it was the most powerful tremor recorded within a 200km radius of Shigatse in the past five years. The tremors were felt in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India. About 50 aftershocks were recorded in the three hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic area on the Chinese side was closed after the quake, AP reported.

More than 1,000 homes were damaged. About 1,500 firefighters and rescue workers have been sent to search for people in the rubble, the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management said. The country's air force also took part in rescue efforts, using drones to look for those in need of assistance. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management announced the allocation of 100 million Chinese yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.

Footage on television channels and social media showed buildings shaking and people running out of their homes. In one video, a woman was seen running across an aisle at a supermarket in Tibet, as the tremor occurred.

Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and expressed his wish for those injured to recover quickly. “I am deeply saddened to learn of the devastating earthquake that struck Dinggye, in Tibet, and the surrounding regions this morning," he added. "It has caused the tragic loss of many lives, numerous injuries and extensive destruction to homes and property.

“I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives and extend my wishes for a swift recovery to all who have been injured.”

Nepalese people gather in the street the earthquake shook homes in the capital Kathmandu. EPA

In the districts of Nepal that border Tibet, the termor sent residents rushing out of their homes, but no damage or deaths were reported, Disan Bhattarai, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction And Management Authority, told The National.

"Until now there are no human casualties," he said. "We don’t have any information about huge damage to the houses or any other infrastructure. We have heard that small parts of some houses have cracked but nothing major."

The government has sent 2,000 members of armed forces and additional police to the affected areas, he added.

Nepal is in a seismic zone and is highly prone to earthquakes. Nearly 9,000 people were killed, more than 22,000 injured and 500,000 homes destroyed by a magnitude 7.8 quake in 2015. A 5.7 magnitude earthquake in November killed at least 128 people in the country's north-western region.

Tremors from Tuesday's earthquake were also felt in several parts of India, including the eastern states of Bihar, Assam and West Bengal, but no injuries were reported. There have been 10 earthquakes of at least 6.0 magnitude in the area where Tuesday's quake hit in the past century, the US Geological Survey said