Fifty-three people have been confirmed dead, and 62 others injured as of 12:30 Tuesday, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in the city of Xigaze in Xizang Autonomous Region at 09:05 Tuesday (Beijing Time), according to the regional disaster relief headquarters.
Over 1,000 houses have sustained varying degrees of damage.
Following the quake, China Earthquake Administration launched a level-II emergency service response and sent a work team to the site to assist with disaster relief efforts. Xizang Autonomous Region also issued a level-II emergency response to the quake.
Some 22,000 disaster relief items, including cotton tents, cotton coats, quilts and folding beds, together with special relief materials for high-altitude and frigid areas, have been dispatched by central authorities to the quake-hit area. Over 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have also been dispatched to the ground.
The epicenter was monitored at 28.5 degrees north latitude and 87.45 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 km, according to a report issued by the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The epicenter is located in Tsogo Township of Dingri County, which has a population of approximately 6,900 people within a 20-km radius. There are 27 villages within this area. Official data show Dingri County has a population of over 61,000 people.
A strong earthquake was felt in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley on Tuesday morning, and police said no damage has been reported yet.
Nepal Police spokesperson Bishwa Adhikari told media that police nationwide have been told to find what had happened, and so far there has been no report of human casualty or material damage.
Lok Bijaya Adhikari, a senior seismologist at Nepal's National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center, put the magnitude of the earthquake in Nepal at 7.0.
53 dead, 62 injured in Xizang 6.8-magnitude quake
