At least 53 people have been confirmed dead and 62 are injured after a major earthquake struck China’s mountainous Tibet region on Tuesday morning, Chinese state media reported.

Tremors were also felt in neighbouring Nepal and parts of India.

Shigatse is considered one of the holiest cities of Tibet. It is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a key figure of Tibetan Buddhism whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.

Tingri county, near the earthquake’s epicentre, is a popular base for climbers preparing to ascend Mount Everest.

Mount Everest sightseeing tours in Tingri, originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, have been cancelled, a tourism staff told local media, adding that the sightseeing area has been fully closed.

There were three visitors in the sightseeing area who have all been moved to an outdoor area for safety, they said.

Chinese state media reported the earthquake as having a slightly lesser magnitude of 6.8, causing “obvious” tremors and leading to the damage of over 1,000 houses.

Social media posts show collapsing buildings and there have been several strong aftershocks.

“After a major earthquake, there is always a gradual attenuation process,” Jiang Haikun, a researcher at the China Earthquake Networks Center, told CCTV.

While another earthquake of around magnitude 5 may still occur, Jiang said, “the likelihood of a larger earthquake is low”.

The Chinese air force has launched rescue efforts and drones to the affected area, which sits at the foot of Mount Everest and where temperatures are well below freezing.

Both power and water in the region have been cut off.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has also called for all-out search and rescue efforts to minimise casualties and resettle affected residents.

While tremors were felt in Nepal, no damage or casualties were reported, a local official in Nepal’s Namche region, near Everest, told AFP.

The region, which lies near a major fault line of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, is home to frequent seismic activity. In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, killed nearly 9,000 people and injured over 20,000.

Source: www.bbc.com