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A strong earthquake struck a mountainous region in western China near Nepal on Tuesday morning, killing at least 32 people.
The official Xinhua news agency said another 38 were injured, citing the regional disaster relief headquarters.
The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.1 earthquake was in the Tibet area at a depth of about 6 miles. China recorded a magnitude of 6.8.
The epicenter was located where the Indian and Eurasian plates collide, causing uplifts in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the height of some of the world’s highest peaks.
Xinhua via AP
The average elevation in the area around the epicenter is about 13,800 feet, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.
CCTV said there were several communities within a 3-mile radius of the epicenter, which was 240 miles from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and about 14 miles from the region’s second-largest city, Xigaze.
In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, an earthquake sent residents running out of their homes after being woken up by the tremors. No information was currently available from remote, mountainous areas closer to the epicenter across the border.
In the past century, there have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area hit by Tuesday’s quake, the USGS said.
