Earthquake in Tibet near Mount Everest kills at least 53 people

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.8 quake that hit around 9:05 a.m. Tuesday morning was in Tingri county, in Shigatse city, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

China said 53 people have been killed and another 62 were injured by an earthquake that struck its far western region of Tibet.

The epicenter of the magnitude 6.8 quake that hit around 9:05 a.m. Tuesday morning was in Tingri county, in Shigatse city, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The earthquake knocked some houses down, Xinhua said, and aftershocks of up to 4.4 magnitude have been reported.

The largely rural county of Tingri is about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the Tibet’s capital, Lhasa. It sits on the border with Nepal, and attracts some Chinese tourists visiting Mount Everest.

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping ordered “all-out rescue efforts” to deal with the earthquake, Xinhua reported. Local authorities have deployed more than 1 500 people for search and rescue efforts, China Central Television reported.

The US Geological Survey put the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.0, saying it hit about 90 kilometers northeast of Lobuche, Nepal. Media outlets in Nepal haven’t reported any deaths or injuries from the quake.

China annexed Tibet in the 1950s. As in Xinjiang, the region has long endured intense social, security and religious controls. Beijing says it is suppressing what it calls terrorist and separatist elements while providing economic opportunities.

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