At least three people have been killed after an earthquake hit Bhutan and neighbouring Himalayan regions, BBC reported.

The 6.3 magnitude quake damaged monasteries and caused homes to collapse in the mountain kingdom.

The tremors also caused panic in the city of Guwahati, the capital of India's north-eastern state of Assam.

The epicentre was just inside Bhutan's border with India, 180km (115 miles) east of the capital Thimphu, the US Geological Survey said.

Rescue teams were being deployed to assess the damage in the Munggar region of Bhutan, close to the epicentre of the earthquake.