Strong earthquake hits Sichuan province

A local resident sends messages after an earthquake hit Kangding. [Photo provided on Weibo]

Guo, a Kangding resident, told Xinhua the tremor was powerful and many articles fell to the floor in his home.

The Sichuan Provincial Earthquake Administration launched a Grade I emergency response,the highest, after the quake and has dispatched working teams to Kangding, whose county seat is in a narrow valley with a river flowing through.

Electricity supply was cut off in Tagong Town, the epicenter, said the Sichuan Power Company of the State Grid.

The company has dispatched two working teams and 11 generators to the township.

Ya'an City in Sichuan has dispatched five ambulances and 30 medical workers to the quake-hit areas, said the provincial health department. Another 20 medical workers from the People's Hospital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture are heading to the epicenter. A medical rescue team in Huaxi Hospital affiliated to Sichuan University is on standby.

A 35-strong rescue team of armed police arrived at Tagong township two hours after the quake occurred.

Railway authorities in Chengdu halted passenger trains in affected areas and dispatched workers to check railway facilities after the earthquake. And the service has been resumed as of 6:55 p.m..

The sector of Linzhi county in Tibet Autonomous Region of the G318 Highway, which links Tibet and Sichuan has caved in after the quake. More than 100 vehicles are trapped on the highway. Local authorities said the traffic is expected to be resumed by Sunday noon.

A statue of the Buddha in Tagong Temple was damaged during the quake but no casualty was reported, according to the head of the management committee of the temple.

The quake also affected Zhaodong City in neighboring Yunnan province.