More than 120 people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet on Tuesday morning, with tremors felt across the Himalayas in neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India.

Chinese state media said at least 126 people had died in the magnitude 7.1 quake near an area of religious significance in Tibet. It was felt in neighboring Nepal.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said more than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and sparsely populated region.

Powerful tremors shook Nepal’s capital Kathmandu just before dawn on Tuesday, an AFP reporter said, as a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck a remote Himalayan region in Tibet in China. Chinese state media reported that “people have been killed” following the powerful earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.1 earthquake was centered in the Tibet region at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China recorded the magnitude as 6.8. The epicenter was located where the India and Eurasia plates clash and cause uplifts in the Himalayan mountains strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked the northern foothills of the Himalayas near one of Tibet's holiest cities on Tuesday, Chinese authorities said, killing at least 95 people and shaking buildings in neighbouring Nepal,