A 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet's holiest cities on Sunday killed at least 95 people and shook buildings in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and India, Chinese authorities said, Reuters reported.
The quake struck at 9:05 a.m. (0505 GMT) and its epicenter was in Tingri, a rural county known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to data from the China Earthquake Networks Center. The US Geological Survey estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.1.
According to the latest figures, at least 95 people were killed and 130 were injured on the Tibetan side, Chinese state television reported six hours later. There were no reports of deaths elsewhere.
Southwestern China, Nepal and northern India are often hit by earthquakes caused by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
The epicenter of the latest quake was about 80 km north of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak and a popular destination for climbers and trekkers.
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Agency (NDRRMA) said the tremors were felt in seven mountainous districts bordering Tibet.
“We have not received any information about loss of life or property so far,” NDRRMA spokesman Dizan Bhattarai told Reuters. "We have mobilized the police, security forces and local authorities to gather information," he said.
Many villages in the Nepalese border region, which is sparsely populated, are remote and can only be reached on foot.