By Joe Cash and Ryan Woo BEIJING (Reuters) -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.

STORY: Chinese officials ended the search for survivors of Tibet's 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, one day after the tremor.They say they're shifting focus to relocating the displaced and treating the injured after pulling a reported 407 people from the rubble.

A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.