The powerful earthquake was felt as far away as New Delhi and across most of Nepal, but there were no reports of any casualties. Officials rushed tents, blankets and clothing to those displaced from their homes.
The official Xinhua news agency reports that cracks appeared in 42 residential buildings following the shaking, which also damaged some primary and middle schools in Tibet’s Xigaze prefecture (state).
Operators of a regional hydroelectric plant said the seismic event caused one levee to shift nearly 20 feet (5 metres), and cracks appeared in one of the plant's workshops.
The state seismological bureau determined the quake was centered beneath Zhongba county at a depth of only 6 miles (10 km) at 9:22 p.m. Beijing time.
A 6.7-magnitude quake occurred in the same area in 2004, followed by a 6.5-magnitude quake on April 8, 2005, but neither caused casualties, according to the regional earthquake bureau.