53 dead and 62 injured as a result of an earthquake that struck southwest China

At least 53 people were killed, and about 62 people were injured, as a result of the earthquake that struck today, Dingri County in Shigaze in the Xicang Autonomous Region in southwestern China, near the border with Nepal.

The Chinese Center for Earthquake Networks said in a statement that the earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Official reports indicated the collapse of a number of homes in the area struck by the earthquake, while local authorities are communicating with various villages and towns to assess the resulting impact.

For its part, the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center reported that the epicenter of the earthquake occurred 99 kilometers northeast of the city of Lobuchi in Nepal, and was felt by residents of the capital, Kathmandu, which is more than 200 kilometers away from its epicenter.