BEIJING (Reuters) – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet’s holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and shaking buildings in neighboring Nepal. , Bhutan and India.

The earthquake struck at 9:05 am (0105 GMT), with its epicenter located in Tingri, a rural province known as the northern gateway to the Everest region, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), according to China Earthquake Network Center.

At least nine people were killed in the Tibetan area, national television broadcaster CCTV reported.

The impact of the earthquake was felt throughout the region of 800,000 people, governed by Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism.

Villages in Tingri reported strong shaking during the earthquake, followed by several aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 4.4.

Collapsed shop fronts can be seen in a video on social media showing the aftermath from the nearby town of Lhatse, with debris spilling onto the road.

Reuters was able to confirm the location from nearby buildings, windows, street layout, and signage that matched satellite and street view imagery.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is considered strong and may cause serious damage.

Local government officials are coordinating with nearby towns to assess the impact of the earthquake and check for casualties, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Tremors were also felt in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu about 400 km (250 miles) away, where residents fled their homes.

“We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss,” said Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, at the foot of the Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

“We have mobilized the police and other security forces as well as locals to collect information about the damage,” he added.

The earthquake also shook Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the northern Indian state of Bihar that borders Nepal.

So far, no reports of any damage or loss of property have been received, Indian officials said.

The southwestern part of China, Nepal and Northern India are often hit by earthquakes due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

A major earthquake in China’s Sichuan province in 2008 killed nearly 70,000 people, while a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Kathmandu in 2015, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands in Nepal’s worst earthquake .