BEIJING: Authorities moved more than 45,000 people in earthquake-hit Tibet to shelters in a massive rescue operation near the foot of the Himalayas, as they wound down the search in a high-altitude environment where the odds of survival were always slim.

Rescue workers in Tibet are searching for more survivors and victims, one day after a strong earthquake leveled thousands of houses and killed at least 126 people.

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 53 people and shaking buildings in neighbouring Nepal,