A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province, killing more than 40 people and shaking the capital Chengdu, Aljazeera reports.
Forty-six people were killed in the quake, Chinese state media, Xinhua, reported on Monday, citing local authorities at a press briefing.
The epicentre was at Luding, a town in the mountains about 226km (110 miles) southwest of Chengdu, the China Earthquake Networks Centre said.
Some roads and homes near the epicentre were damaged by landslides on Monday, while communications were down in at least one area, according to state television.
No damage to dam and hydropower stations within 50km (31 miles) of the epicentre was reported.
Earthquakes are common in Sichuan, a southwestern province, especially in its western mountains, a tectonically active area along the eastern boundary of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.
Resident Jiang Danli said she hid under a desk for five minutes in her 31st-floor apartment, while many of her neighbours rushed downstairs.
“There was a strong earthquake in June, but it wasn’t very scary. This time I was really scared because I live on a high floor and the shaking made me dizzy,” Jiang said.
Laura Luo, who lives in Chengdu, a city of about 21 million people, was on her way back to her apartment block when she saw people in her neighbourhood rushing out of their high-rise homes in panic after getting earthquake warnings on their phones.
