Earthquake leaves seven people dead, several houses damaged in China's Sichuan province

Beijing: At least seven people were confirmed dead and two were injured in an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter Scale that jolted the Sichuan province in China on Monday, state media reported.
China's media network CCTV reported that the earthquake that hit Luding county in Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province at 12:52 pm (Beijing time) has caused landslides and damage to homes and power interruptions. One landslide blocked a rural highway, leaving it strewn with rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
According to the CGTN News, some people are trapped under collapsed houses, but there are no further details so far. Several aftershocks have been recorded in nearby areas.
As per the China Earthquake Networks Center, the epicentre of the earthquake was at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 16 km.
The quake was felt 200 kilometres (125 miles) away in the provincial capital, Chengdu, where a COVID-19 outbreak has restricted most of its 21 million residents to their compounds under China's strict "zero-COVID" policy.
The authorities have opened several "green passages" on the Sichuan highway to help rescue workers travelling to Luding County.
The Fire and Rescue Department of Sichuan Province has dispatched 30 people to the earthquake's epicentre, and another 530 rescue personnel have been dispatched to the epicentre from seven other regions.
The Sichuan Earthquake Administration activated its Level-II emergency response after the earthquake. Telecommunications are currently cut off in the epicentre, Moxi Town in Luding.
According to the centre, another quake with a magnitude of 4.2 struck the city of Yaan near Luding.
However, the casualties or damages are yet to be ascertained.
Sichuan, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet, is prone to earthquakes. Two quakes in June killed at least four people.
On April 20, 2013, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake had hit Yaan city, which resulted in 196 fatalities.
Earlier, on May 12, 2008, a 7.9 earthquake occurred in the Sichuan province which resulted in over 69,000 fatalities and is one of the most destructive earthquakes in recent history. (ANI)