Desperate hunt for survivors as huge 7.1-magnitude earthquake leaves at least 53 dead in Tibet with aftershocks rattling region near Mount Everest

A devastating earthquake in China's remote Tibet region killed at least 53 people and injured 62 as it demolished 'many structures', with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal's capital Kathmandu and parts of India.

Videos published by China's state broadcaster CCTV showed houses destroyed with walls torn apart as authorities launched a desperate rescue mission to pull survivors from the debris with temperatures sitting at least eight degrees below freezing. 

Several of the 1,500 deployed rescue workers were seen wading through the ruins in the aftermath of the earthquake, while others doled out thick blankets and food to keep bewildered locals warm.

Surveillance images published by CCTV showed people running through a store's aisles as shelves shook violently, sending objects like toys tumbling to the ground.

The US Geological Survey said the 7.1 magnitude quake struck Tibet's Dingri County, near the mountainous border with Nepal, at 9:05am local time (0105 GMT). Other monitoring organisations put the magnitude at 6.8.

The high-altitude county in the Tibet region is home to around 62,000 people and situated on the Chinese side of Mount Everest. 

Data from the USGC showed that Everest, the world's tallest mountain, itself experienced tremors of 4.5-magnitude, raising fears that one adventurer with a permit to climb could have faced disaster. 

There are also villages and homes in hard-to-reach areas of the Himalayas closer to the epicentre which are feared destroyed, while Nepal's city of Kathmandu also experienced significant tremors.

The death toll is expected to increase sharply over the coming hours.  

While earthquakes are common in the region, today's quake was the most powerful recorded within a 200-kilometre radius in the last five years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a statement in the hours after the quake declaring authorities had launched 'full-scale search and rescue efforts' and emphasised the importance of 'minimising casualties to the greatest extent possible, properly resettling affected residents, and ensuring their safety and warmth through the winter'.

The Xinhua news agency said that 'local authorities are reaching out to various townships in the county to assess the impact of the quake'.

Temperatures in Dingri are around minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and will drop to minus 18 this evening, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

Disaster relief aid, including cotton tents, quilts and items for high-altitude and frigid areas, had been dispatched by central authorities to areas impacted by the quake, Xinhua said.

The USGC said of the region affected: 'Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist. 

'The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe block and unreinforced brick with mud construction.'

Tremors were felt in Kathmandu and areas around Lobuche in Nepal, sending residents running out of their houses. 

'The bed was shaking and I thought my child was moving the bed... I didn't pay that much attention but the shaking of (a) window made me understand that it's an earthquake,' said Kathmandu resident Meera Adhikarii. 

'I'm still shaking out of fear and am in shock.'

One person was injured in Kathmandu when he jumped off the top of a house after feeling the strong tremors, Nepal Police spokesman Bishwa Adhikari said. The man was being treated in hospital.

'It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake,' said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Nepal's Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest. 

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

But no damage or deaths had been reported so far and security forces had been deployed, Nepali Home Minister spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari said.

Nepal lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.

In 2015, nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes.

That event triggered a massive avalanche from Pumori, a nearby mountain, that sent snow into Everest's Base Camp, killing at least 22.

At least 61 people were left injured. It is still the deadliest disaster on the mountain. 

Three people were killed and dozens injured after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck along the mountainous China-Kyrgyzstan border in January last year.

A quake in December 2023 in northwest China killed 148 people and displaced thousands in Gansu province.

That quake was China's deadliest since 2014, when more than 600 people were killed in southwestern Yunnan province.

In the December 2023 earthquake, subzero temperatures made the aid operation launched in response even more challenging, with survivors huddled around outdoor fires to keep warm.