A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit China’s Tibet region near the border with Nepal

An earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale hit the Tibetan region in western China near the border with Nepal on Tuesday, killing dozens of people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

An earthquake with a depth of 6.2 miles struck Tibet’s Tingri County just after 9 a.m., according to Chinese state media. The state news agency Xinhua said at least 32 people died.

China National Radio reported that more than 1,000 houses collapsed in Dingri County.

Several aftershocks were felt in the region, including Nepal.

The city closest to the epicenter is Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city, with a population of 640,000.

The Himalayan region is prone to strong earthquakes. In 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people. In Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, residents were rushing out of their homes in the morning as the quake shook buildings.

“Depending on the magnitude of the earthquake, there may be some damage in the mountainous areas of eastern Nepal,” said Lok Bijaya Adhikari, a senior seismologist at Nepal’s National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Center.

Most of the residents from the high mountain regions of Nepal such as Everest, Makalu, Rolwarim and Kanchenjunga have migrated to lowland areas to avoid the harsh winter cold.

“While most people migrate to lower areas during the winter, some remain,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. “There’s always a risk of avalanches and glacial lake outburst flooding after an earthquake.”

Wang Berry Contributed research.