China announces 53 deaths after 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Tibet

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, struck Dingri County in Shigatse, a mountainous region in western China bordering Nepal. Shigatse, located 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 official news agency, and 62 others were injured. Many houses near the epicenter collapsed and some people were trapped.

About 6,900 people live in more than two dozen villages within a radius of about 20 kilometers from the epicenter, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Chinese authorities have dispatched nearly 1,500 firefighters and rescue workers to the area, the channel added. The true scale of the disaster is still being assessed.

Tremors were also felt in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, 400 kilometers 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. Over the past century, there have been 10 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater within a 150-mile radius of Tuesday’s epicenter, according to the USGS.

In 2008, nearly 70,000 people were killed in a massive earthquake in China’s southwest Sichuan province.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal and damaged nearly a million structures, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the country’s history.