A powerful earthquake killed at least 95 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many more trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the highlands of western China and across the border in Nepal.
District officials said at a brief news conference that another 130 were injured, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
CCTV footage showed orange-suited rescue workers sorting through piles of rubble blocking homes in a heavily damaged village, while debris from buildings littered the area. streets and crush cars in other areas.
State media said about 1,000 houses were damaged, citing the headquarters of the Tibetan earthquake relief.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers. China recorded the magnitude as 6.8.
The epicenter was about 75 kilometers northeast of Mount Everest, which crosses the China-Nepal border. The region is seismically active and it is here that the Indian and Eurasian plates collide and cause a rise in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the height of some of the highest peaks in the world.
Mount Everest area closed
About 50 aftershocks were recorded, and the Mount Everest viewing area on the Chinese side was closed after the quake.
About 1,500 firefighters and rescuers were sent to search for people, the Ministry of Emergency Management said. Two hundred soldiers joined the search, CCTV said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for an all-out effort to save people, reduce casualties and those whose homes were damaged. Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was sent to the area to lead the operation.
CCTV said a handful of communities are within five kilometers of the epicenter, which was 380 kilometers from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and about 23 kilometers from the region's second-largest city in Shigatse, known as Xigaze. in Chinese.
The average elevation in the area around the epicenter is about 4,200 meters, the China Earthquake Network Center said in a social media post.
There was a tremor in Nepal
In Nepal, authorities asked officials in the mountainous area near the center to search for any casualties or damage.
The National Emergency Operations Center in Kathmandu said that people in northeastern Nepal felt strongly about the earthquake but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage to houses.
A police officer in Solukhumbu district, where Mount Everest is located, said by phone that there were no reports of damage. The area, often full of climbers and hikers, was empty in the depths of winter. Many residents move south to avoid the harsh winter.
About 230 kilometers from the epicenter in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, the earthquake woke up residents and sent them out of their homes into the streets.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday's earthquake struck over the past century, the USGS said.
