A total of 13 people were killed and another four remain missing in southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, after a powerful earthquake struck neighboring Nepal on Saturday, local authorities said.

A massive 8.1-magnitude quake shook Nepal at 2:11 pm (Beijing Time), followed by a second 7.0-magnitude quake at 2:45 pm, leaving more than 700 people dead in the country.

The quake also strongly jolted the neighboring regions in Tibet.

Seven of the 13 killed people are in the county of Nyalam and six others in the county of Gyirong. Four residents in Nyalam are missing as of 11:30 pm. Both counties in Xigaze are about 40 km from the epicenter.

The quake also damaged buildings and roads and cut off telecommunications in the two counties and several neighboring regions.

The exact loss is not immediately known.

Following strong earthquakes in Nepal, a 5.9-magnitude quake shook Dingri County of Xigaze at 5:17 pm Saturday.

Chen Quanguo, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Tibet, has ordered to evacuate people in the quake-hit regions to avoid further deaths and injuries from aftershocks and secondary disasters.

About 600 border guards are currently involved in the rescue operation in Nyalam and Gyirong.

A total of 3,204 firefighters and 87 sniffer dogs from Tibet and neighboring provinces have also been readied to go to the quake-struck areas as a reinforcement.

Meanwhile, the authorities are sending tents, quilts, clothes, medicine and bottled water to the regions.