Video | 53 dead as massive earthquake rocks Tibet; tremors felt in Patna, Guwahati

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Tibet near the Nepal border on Tuesday morning, killing 53 people. Over 62 people were injured, confirmed Chinese State News Agency Xinhua.

Regional disaster relief headquarters said the earthquake happened around 9 am on Tuesday at Tingri, a rural county known as the northern gateway to the Everest region. 

While China recorded the magnitude as 6.8, the US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.1 earthquake. The epicentre was located where the India and Eurasia plates clash.

Videos doing rounds on social media showed buildings in the town of Lhatse. Concrete blocks from the buildings were shown strewn on the road. Another video showed rooftops of collapsed residences. Over 1,000 houses have sustained varying degrees of damage.

Chinese state media said local government officials were liaising with nearby towns to gauge the impact of the quake and check for casualties. The authorities have also launched an emergency service response and sent a work team to the site to help with disaster relief. 

Over 1,500 local firefighters and rescue workers have also been dispatched to the ground with relief materials which include cotton tents, cotton coats, quilts and folding beds. 

Tremors were also felt in Patna and Guwahati which saw panicked people rushed out of their homes. Authorities said two more earthquakes struck the region later in the morning. However, there are no reports of damage so far.

Nepal also reported experiencing tremors in the capital Kathmandu which is some 400 km away from Tibet. "We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss," Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Solukhumbu district in Nepal, at the foot of Mount Everest, told Reuters. "We have mobilised police and other security forces as well as locals to collect information about the damage," he added. 

The quake also jolted Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal.