The 7.1-magnitude quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and was followed by multiple aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The energy unleashed by the tectonic movement toppled houses in remote Himalayan villages, rocked a nearby Tibetan holy city and rattled visitors to a Mount Everest base camp.
Its epicenter, located in Tingri county high on the Tibetan plateau, was close to the border with Nepal, around 50 miles north of the world’s highest mountain.
At least 126 people were killed and 188 others were injured in the quake, according to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). More than 3,600 houses were damaged, it said.
The tremors were felt as far as Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. “It was very strong. People came running out of their houses. You could see the wires from poles shaken loose,” said Bishal Nath Upreti from the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, a non-government organization in Kathmandu.
By Tuesday evening, some 150 aftershocks had been recorded, 19 of which had magnitudes of 3.0 and above, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The region close to the epicenter is sparsely populated but small villages are nestled in isolated and often hard to access Himalayan valleys. About 6,900 people are estimated to live in 27 villages within a 20-km (12-miles) radius of the epicenter, according to Xinhua.
Rescue teams, medical personnel, experts and other resources will be flown to affected areas by passenger planes from Tibet Airlines and Air China, CCTV reported.
Chinese social media videos geolocated by CNN showed damaged roofs, shop fronts and debris piling on the streets of Lhatse county, some 86 kilometers (53 miles) from the epicenter. Some cars and motorcycles parked along the road were also damaged, the footage showed.
The nearest major city to the epicenter is the holy city of Shigatse, which lies some 180 km (111 miles) away. The city is home to about 800,000 people and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism, second only to the Dalai Lama.
Surveillance camera footage at a supermarket in Shigatse shared by Xinhua captured the moment the quake struck, with customers running outside as goods fell from quivering shelves. There were no immediate reports of widespread damage in the city.
China’s meteorological administration has warned local residents to take shelter from the cold and wind, with temperatures due to plummet to below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) at points over the next two days. Shingatse’s regional government has dispatched thousands of tents, beds and coats to the affected area.
