Beijing, January 7: A strong earthquake shook a mountainous region in western China near Nepal on Tuesday morning, killing at least nine people, state media said. State broadcaster CCTV cited the Ministry of Emergency Management for the death toll but did not give details on the casualties.

The magnitude 7.1 quake struck in a mountainous area in the Tibet region, near the border with Nepal, at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles), the US Geological Survey said. Earthquake in Nepal: Strong Quake of Magnitude 7.1 Jolts Lobuche; Multiple Earthquakes Reported in Xizang in Tibet Autonomous Region.

China's earthquake monitoring agency recorded the magnitude as 6.8. The average altitude in the area around the epicenter is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), CCTV said. Earthquake Tremors Felt in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal After Strong 7.1-Magnitude Quake Jolts Nepal.

The CCTV online report said there were a handful of communities within 5 kilometers of the epicentre, which was 380 kilometers (240 miles) from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)