Hong Kong
CNN
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More than 120 people were killed after a powerful earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday morning. Tremors were felt across the Himalayas in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 7.1 quake struck at 9:05 a.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and followed several aftershocks.

The energy released by the tectonic movement collapsed homes in remote Himalayan villages, shook a nearby Tibetan holy city and jolted visitors to a base camp on Mount Everest.

According to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), the quake killed at least 126 people and injured 188 others. More than 3,600 houses were damaged, it said.

Its epicenter was in Tingri County, high on the Tibetan plateau near the border with Nepal, about 80 kilometers north of the world’s highest mountain.

The tremors were felt as far away as Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. “It was very strong. People ran out of their houses. You could see the wires coming off poles,” said Bishal Nath Upreti of the Nepal Center for Disaster Management, a non-governmental organization in Kathmandu.

In Tibet, massive rescue operations by emergency services and the Chinese military freed more than 400 people trapped in rubble. More than 30,000 residents have been relocated as rescuers continue to search for survivors, authorities said.

The region near the epicenter is sparsely populated, but small villages are nestled in remote and often difficult-to-access Himalayan valleys. About 6,900 people are estimated to live in 27 villages within 20 km (12 miles) of the epicenter, according to Xinhua.

State media footage showed the rubble of collapsed houses and crumbling walls scattered across villages at the foot of the mountains, with rescuers digging through the rubble with their bare hands to search for survivors.

Chinese social media videos geolocated by CNN showed damaged roofs, storefronts and piles of rubble on the streets of Lhatse county, about 86 km (53 miles) from the epicenter. Some cars and motorcycles parked along the road were also damaged, the footage showed.

The closest major city to the epicenter is the holy city of Shigatse, about 180 km (111 miles) away. The city is home to about 800,000 people and is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, who lives in self-imposed exile in India, said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the earthquake. “I pray for those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to all those injured,” he said.

Surveillance camera footage at a supermarket in Shigatse shared by Xinhua captured the moment the quake struck, with customers running outside as goods fell from shaking shelves. There were no immediate reports of widespread damage in the city.

Pu Chi, who lives in Bainang county – about 200 km (125 miles) from the epicenter in Tingri – said she was lying in bed on Tuesday morning when she felt the room shake and saw the ceiling lights begin to sway.

“I was very scared, so I quickly put on some clothes and ran outside. Then I called my family to inform them,” Pu, 24, told CNN. She said it was the first time she had experienced an earthquake.

China’s meteorological agency has warned residents to protect themselves from cold and wind as temperatures will dip below 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) at times over the next two days. The Shingatse regional government has sent thousands of tents, beds and coats to the affected area.

In a statement after the quake, Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged officials to make every effort to search and rescue survivors, minimize casualties, adequately house affected residents and ensure their safety and warmth in the winter cold.

More than 1,600 People’s Liberation Army and paramilitary police soldiers, as well as military drones, helicopters and transport planes, were deployed to the rescue.

The State Grid Tibet Electric Power Company has sent a first wave of personnel to affected areas to restore power, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The Chinese Red Cross has provided more than 4,600 disaster relief items, including tents, blankets, thermal jackets and folding beds, to those in need of emergency shelter. The Red Cross has also sent rescue teams to the area, according to CCTV.

Everest and Nepal shook

Anna Guo, an 18-year-old student traveling with a tour group, was about to leave Shigatse and head southwest to see Mount Everest when the ground began shaking violently on Tuesday morning.

“I was standing in line and we heard something – then we realized it was an earthquake. It got stronger and stronger and the windows started shaking,” she told CNN.

“We have never felt an earthquake this strong.”

On Tuesday, local authorities closed a base camp for climbing Mount Everest and the surrounding scenic area. Winter is not a peak season for climbing the world’s highest mountain, but some Chinese tourists still visit the scenic area to enjoy breathtaking views of the Himalayan mountains.

Ba Luo, a base camp employee, said he felt the tremors from the earthquake but there was no damage to the buildings. Nearly 500 tourists visited the camp on Monday and about 30 visitors were at the base when the quake struck, he said, adding that all tourists had been evacuated.

In Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, just across the border from the Chinese county at the epicenter, the tremors brought back memories of the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu in 2015 that killed about 9,000 people and injured thousands.

“The tremors were very strong, definitely everyone is panicking,” Rupesh Vishwakarmi, a local district official, told CNN. At a yak farm near Nepal’s base camp for Mount Everest, “everything is shaking” and employees are “very scared,” he said.

According to the Nepalese police, 13 injured people were rescued across the country. According to the country’s Interior Ministry, ten houses were damaged and one was completely destroyed.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, more than 500 aftershocks were recorded by Wednesday evening, 27 of which were magnitude 3.0 or greater.

Tibet is one of China’s most restricted and politically sensitive regions, and access for foreign visitors remains tightly controlled. Beijing has had a tight grip on the region since the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

This story has been updated with additional developments.