The death toll from the powerful earthquake in Tibet has risen to at least 53 people today, DPA reported.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake had its epicenter in Tibet at a depth of about 10 kilometers, the US Geological Survey reported.
The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported, citing local authorities, that at least 53 people were killed and 62 were injured.
Many houses near the epicenter collapsed.
The earthquake was registered about 400 kilometers west of the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
The Chinese military has sent an unmanned aircraft to study the epicenter, Xinhua also reported. Rescue operations are underway and residents are being evacuated to avoid possible aftershocks.
The China Earthquake Networks Center reported the earthquake's magnitude as 6.8.
Tibet, as well as the entire southwestern part of China, Nepal and northern India, are often hit by earthquakes.
The devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province in 2008 killed about 70,000 people. In 2015, a powerful earthquake shook the Kathmandu region of Nepal, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.