The death toll from the magnitude 6,6 earthquake that hit the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan today has risen to 46, state media reported.
In the city of Jaan, 17 people were reported dead, public television CCTV reported, and in the neighboring prefecture of Garza, 29 people were killed.
A 6,6-magnitude earthquake hit the mountainous Sichuan province at 12.52:4.52 local time (XNUMX:XNUMX GMT), the US Geological Survey said.
The epicenter was at a shallow depth of ten kilometers, about 200 kilometers southwest of the metropolis of Chengdu.
Certain roads and houses near the epicenter were damaged in the landslides, while communications were cut off in at least one area, state television reported earlier today, as reported by Reuters.
No damage was reported to dams or hydropower plants within 50 kilometers of the epicenter, which was in Luding, a mountain town about 226 kilometers southwest of Chengdu, the China Earthquake Center said earlier today.
Earthquakes are common in Sichuan, especially in its mountains to the west - a tectonically active area along the eastern border of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
In Luding, the earthquake was so strong that it was difficult to stand, while cracks appeared on some houses, state media China News Service said.
A total of 39.000 people live within 20 kilometers of the epicenter and 1,55 million within 100 kilometers, according to state television.
The earthquake was the largest in Sichuan since August 2017, when a magnitude 7,0 earthquake struck Aba Prefecture.
Bonus video:
