Fifty three people were killed as a powerful 6.8 earthquake struck the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet's holiest cities on Tuesday, damaging buildings around Shigatse and sending people running into the streets in neighbouring Nepal and India.

The temblor at 9.05a.m. (01.05GMT) had an epicentre depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the China Earthquake Networks Centre said, revising the magnitude from an earlier 6.9.

Sixty two people were also injured as a result of the tremor and "many buildings" collapsed, state media reported.

Shigatse is the seat of the Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.

Crumbled shop fronts could be seen in a video showing the aftermath from the nearby town of Lhatse, with debris spilling out onto the road.

Local government officials were liaising with nearby towns to gauge the impact of the quake and check for casualties, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

There are six villages within 5 km of the epicentre, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said, without giving any further details.

Tremors were felt in Nepal's capital Kathmandu some 400 km (250 miles) away, where residents ran from their houses.

The quake was also felt Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and in the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal, where people also rushed from their homes as their walls shook.

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

A magnitude 6.8 quake is considered strong and is capable of causing severe damage.

"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 Solukhumbu district in Nepal, at the foot of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.

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