HONG KONG — A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck near one of Tibet’s holiest cities Tuesday, killing at least 126 people, Chinese state media reported.
The earthquake, which was recorded just after 9 a.m. (8 p.m. ET Monday), was centered at a depth of nearly 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The tremor, which Chinese authorities recorded as magnitude 6.8, hit Dingri County in Shigatse, a mountainous region in western China that borders Nepal. Shigatse, which is about 240 miles from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, is the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second most important spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
At least 126 people were killed, according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, with 130 others injured. Many houses near the epicenter collapsed and some people were trapped.
About 6,900 people live in more than two dozen villages within about 12 miles of the epicenter, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The flimsy construction of homes near the epicenter was one reason for the high number of casualties, residents in the area said.
Sangji Dangzhi, 34, whose supermarket in nearby Tingri county was damaged, told the AFP news agency that the situation was “very serious.”
“Here, the houses are made from dirt, so when the earthquake came … lots of houses collapsed,” Dangzhi added.
Closer to the quake's epicenter, videos from Lhatse county in Shigatse, whose location was verified by NBC News, showed billboards that had been torn apart and, in some cases, buildings whose roofs and walls had entirely collapsed.
Other videos showed several vehicles shaking violently as they were pelted with debris, with roadsides strewn with rubbles and fallen trees. The concrete blocks that had previously made up sidewalks lay in disarray.
Shigatse’s deputy mayor Liu Huazhong told a news conference that Chinese authorities have dispatched over 3,400 firefighting and military personnel to the area, as well as 340 medical personnel.
Liu added that 150 vehicles equipped with search and rescue gear had been sent out, with power outages reported in several areas.
"A batch of disaster relief supplies including self-heating rice, mineral water, instant noodles, cold-resistant coats, cold-resistant shoes, blankets, beds, and tents has been urgently allocated by the townships," Liu said.
Tremors were also felt in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, 250 miles away, where residents were awakened by the tremors.
No damage was immediately reported there.
Earthquakes are common in the Himalayan region, which spans a fault line between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In the past century, there have been 10 earthquakes at magnitude 6 or above within a 150-mile radius of Tuesday’s epicenter, according to USGS.
In 2008, almost 70,000 people were killed in a massive quake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal and damaged almost a million structures, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the country’s history.
