At least 30 people are said to have been killed in two earthquakes that struck Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and surrounding areas, Chinese state media reports.

According to the US Geological Survey, the first earthquake on Monday measured 6.6 on the Richter Scale and struck at 4.30pm (0830 GMT), 80km west of Lhasa.

The second tremor, measuring 5.1, hit about 15 minutes later, approximately 96km west of Lhasa.

The Xinhua news agency said that 30 people had died after the first quake struck, and that houses had collapsed near the epicentre.

China's state Seismological Bureau said the initial earthquake occurred in Dangxiong county, which has a population of about 42,000 people, mostly herdsmen.

"I felt the building shaking a little bit and saw a bench overturn," said Ge San, an employee at the Baima Hotel in Dangxiong, who was sitting in a room with about five other employees.

"The shaking was not heavy. We stayed in the room and were not frightened."

Earthquake prone

China's far west is quite earthquake prone.

A magnitude-5.7 earthquake shook on Sunday the Xinjiang region, which borders Tibet, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Tibet, a remote, sparsely populated region, has been hit by several moderate earthquakes in recent weeks.

Last month, a magnitude 6 earthquake struck near its border with Nepal but there were no reports of damage or casualties.