The epicentre of Tuesday's magnitude 6.8 quake, one of the region's most powerful tremors in recent years, was located in Tingri in China's Tibet, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. It also shook buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India.

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

China has almost doubled its tally of injured in Tibet's deadly earthquake as rescuers widened a search on Friday for survivors in a remote county near the foothills of the Himalayas, despite dwindling hopes for survival.