A shallow 6.6-magnitude earthquake that struck southwest China has left hundreds of people dead or injured, Sichuan provincial authorities said.
"The earthquake in Ya'an, Lushan, has injured or killed hundreds of people," the Sichuan earthquake bureau said, according to an official government website.
The Xinhua cited the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying that the quake occurred at 8:02 a.m. Saturday Beijing Time.
The epicenter, with a depth of 13 km, was monitored at 30.3 degrees north latitude and 103.0 degrees east longitude.
The quake was strongly felt by residents in Sichuan's capital city of Chengdu, which is about 140 kilometers from Ya'an.
A resident in Chengdu, who was on the 13th floor of a building when the quake occurred, said he felt the building shaking for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall off nearby buildings.
People in Leshan city of Sichuan Province, and neighboring Chongqing Municipality also felt the earthquake.
The quake was also felt in provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Yunnan.
Multiple aftershocks jolted the area after the 7.0 magnitude quake took place, the largest aftershock in magnitude being the 5.1-magnitude one which shook the bordering area of Lushan and Baoxing counties of Sichuan at 8:07 a.m.
