Fifty-three people have been confirmed dead, and 62 others injured as of Tuesday noon, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Dingri County in the city of Xigaze in Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region of China at 9:05am Tuesday (Beijing Time), reports Xinhua news agency.

Earlier, the agency reported at least 32 dead and 38 injured.

The seismic activity has led to the destruction of many infrastructure facilities.

Large-scale search and rescue operations are being carried out in the area.

People have been evacuated from the most dangerous regions of the disaster zone.